Love Is Strange
by HellsBellsBella
Summary: Lindsay Monroe leaves home to follow her dreams of becoming a CSI. Though she never thought she'd find someone along the way, All in a New York minute. - Rated T for now.
1. Shut up and let me go

Lindsay Monroe had no idea where she could go at 19, her mom and dad were always fighting, her older brother had left when he had turned eighteen, old enough to be independant she had guessed.

"Lindsay, please come out, we're sorry." her mom said from outside her bedroom door, thank god she had saved up enough pocket money to buy a simple lock so her awful parents couldn't invade her privacy when she least expected it.

"You know we're sorry Linds...please come out." her dad said loudly through the door, Linsday shook her head, they had done this so many times now, she needed to leave somehow, it sucked she was still a minor...she hated being seventeen and stuck in the position she was currently stuck in.

"Leave me alone, I'll come out later when I want to talk."

She heard them speaking quietly from behind the door and went to sit on her bed, "Okay Lindsay, we'll talk later." her dad said through the door.

She sighed, grateful that out of both of her parents, her dad was most understanding, if anything, her mom was the problem, she was a picker, she picked arguments about the smallest things, a severely unnatractive trait, she hated her mom for that, and she was glad it hadn't been passed on to her.

She collapsed onto her bed with a loud sigh and turned the TV on, maybe drowining out the noise with some mindless TV would work, she hoped.

Her cellphone began to vibrate on the wooden table beside her bed, she grabbed it and pressed talk.

"Hey Brandon..." Brandon Monroe was her older brother, already in college, 22 years old, independant etc.

"How's the hell house chica?" she laughed, Brandon had always had a funny sense of humour, and it was great, he made her laugh, like all brother's should.

"We're from Montana, Brandon, not spain...but your funny, and the parents from hell are driving me insane, I thought I could last three more months before leaving, but I can't do this anymore, I'm going to move to New York...hopefully enroll in NYU...I honestly can't wait, all these years of saving up tuition money have finally paid off."

"Ah well, I'll get to see my baby sister more, I can't wait for you to enroll, NYU is great, they have a great criminology program that I know you'll love, and you're rooming with my friend's sister, okay?"

"Yeah I've read about it, it sounds great, meeting new friends will be good too, you don't know how tired I am of the same old things every day, I'm glad I don't really have any close friends here, it would be hard letting go."

She could hear Brandon laughing down the phone, "Oh Linds..."

"Whatever, Hey, I'll call you back later, I'm gonna have to go down there at some point."

"Oh alright Lindsay... I love you sis, talk later." she smiled pressing the phone closer to her ear.

"Love you too Brandon, bye." she heard the 'Click' in the background and placed her phone back onto the table by her bed and got up.

When she had finished walking down the stairs, her mom and dad were sat watching TV in the sitting room.

"I've decided I'm leaving...I'm 19 now, I'm going to enroll in NYU, go and move in the dorms for a while..."

she trailed off, knowing that if it were someone else, her mom wouldn't approve.

Rose and Adam Monroe stared at their daughter, disbeleif evident in their eyes, Rose's eyes filled with tears, and Adam sighed, he had probably known this was coming.

"Lindsay, we're sorry, the last thing we wanted was for you to leave.." her mom said sadly, well Linsday was 19 now, she could make her own choices, like whether she wanted to live with her parents any longer.

"You two need to stop fighting, maybe consider marriage therapy, I'm no shrink, but I think you two need to sort it out, I love you both very much, but I'm old enough to start college now, and it's a much needed break, not only for me, but for you too...consider what I've said."

She smiled sadly at her parents and began to climb the stairs to her room, she felt oddly releived, and hopefully things would get better for her parents.

she picked up her cell and dialed in Brandon's number and waited as it rang and rang.

"Lindsay...how did it go?" she sighed and sat in the plush chair opposite her chair.

"Ok I guess, but I think I've given them something to think about, I told them they might need to consider marriage therapy, I can't believe I told them that..."

"Oh my god Linds...flipping hell, if I had ever come out with that, dad would have pitched a fit."

"Yeah well...mom looked upset, dad looked like he wanted to hit something, you know, normal behaviour, maybe I should have added anger management for dad."

"Wooah Linds, you're lucky you didn't...anger is a touchy subject for him."

Lindsay laughed, "Yeah, I was joking Brandon...you'd know that."

"I suppose I would...but anyway, it's late here, so I'm going to go to bed now, I'll speak to you whenever, love you Linds."

"Okay, See you when I see you Brandon, Love you too, bye."

She put her cell back onto the table and got dressed for bed, she switched her lamp off and jumped into bed.

_**One month later**_

"Welcome to NYU, and congratulations on being accepted." said a chirpy blonde haired girl who she had found out to be her room mate.

"Thank you, I'm Linsday Monroe, nice to meet you."

The girl held her hand out and Lindsay took it and shook, it was nice to be meeting new people on her first day

"I'm Chloe Messer, from queens, born and bred."

Lindsay loved the accent, even though the bronks wasn't exactly the best place to be, the accent was unique, and she loved it, probably hearing a guy with the accent would make her go weak in the knees.

Chloe helped Lindsay bring the last of her boxes into her room and set them on her bed.

"Well I'm gonna head out to look for some new things for the class, I'll see you around." Lindsay said, smiling.

New York was a beautiful place, Lindsay loved it already and she hadn't even been there for three full days, she'd seen that wonderful bridge, the Brooklyn bridge to be exact, that stretched from Manhattan to Brooklyn, She had always dreamed of coming to New York, Montana was nice, it had a homey country feeling, but somewhere new had been on the cards, so Lindsay had jumped at the chance.

once she was out on the street she hailed a cab, she didn't really have a good clue of where she was going, but she'd try.

"Where ya goin gal?" the cab driver asked with a friendly smile

"I don't really know, you know anywhere where I can buy some stuff for NYU, I'm new here, as you'd probably guess." she laughed.

"Ahh I see, alright, I know where to take ya, main high street in new york, when ya get a cab home, just tell the cab driver where your goin, back where ya came from." the cab guy laughed.

"Okay, thank you, I really needed someone like you today."

She handed the cab driver the money, tipped him three dollars fifty and he waved a thank you and a smile and pulled the door shut, rolling down the window.

"See ya later gal." he smiled and drove off.

Lindsay looked at her surroundings, smiling because she loved the city just as much as she loved Montana when she was younger, she was glad that now she and Brandon could see each other as often as they wanted.

by the end of the trip she had gathered note books, pens, a binder and some other things she needed, her professor had already mailed her a reading list and he had already bought more than half of the books she needed.

She remembered the day she told Brandon what she wanted to do in NYU.

_Flashback._

_"I'm going to be a CSI...And I can't wait!" Brandon frowned, unsure of what exactly a 'CSI' was... _

_"What's a CSI?" Lindsay laughed, "A crime scene investigator..."_

_"Oh right, well I hope you make it Linds, Love you."  
_

When she got back to the dorms, she put her key in the lock but before she could turn it the door opened, she was met with a tall guy with short brown hair, blue eyes and a gorgeous face, he stepped back and let her in, she smiled and walked past him placing her books on her bed.

Chloe walked out of the bathroom and sat on her bed, smiling and Lindsay.

"Hey Linds, this is my brother, Danny Messer." Lindsay shifted some books on her bed and smiled at Danny.

"I'm Lindsay Monroe, nice to meet you." Danny was tall, he had emerald green eyes, sandy blonde/brown hair, he was a looker, probably had girls flinging themselves at him.

He stepped forward and held out his hand for Lindsay to shake, she smiled and shook it.

"Yeah, I'm Danny..." He had the perfect dreamy queens accent that Lindsay knew and loved, but he was a player, even a blind person could probably tell.

"Way to state the obvious Messer, anyway, you wanna go out later for dinner Linds?" asked Chloe, she laughed and it made her blonde curls bounce.

"Yeah, I'd love to.."

"Y'know what, I ain't hangin round much longer, gotta go meet Flack, love ya sis, call ya later, nice meeting ya Montana." He smirked before heading to the door.

"Later loser..." Chloe shouted, smiling. How the hell did he know that she was from Montana, she hadn't even told Chloe that she was from Montanna, maybe this Danny guy was super observant.

"Well, that was my lame older brother, always looking out for me though, which I'm totally happy about at times..."

"I know how you feel, I have an older brother too, Brandon, he's always around whenever I'm on a date, annoyingly persistant, and He's studying at Columbia actually."

Chloe smiled "Oh that sounds good, is he hot, only saying because you've seen Danny, and you must think he's hot in some way.." Chloe laughed.

"I guess so, He has a new girlfriend every week, last week it was Amanda, week before Tianna, week before that Shelley...and this week, some chick called Carly, blonde, bouncing, annoying, you know, stereotypical fake blonde bimbo, she has bleached hair and her roots are black because she hasn't been to the salon in a while..."

Chloe nodded, "Hasn't found the right gal yet I guess."

"Maybe, but something tells me he's also a massive man-whore..."

"Ah, well, we have a list of man-whores now, 1. Danny Messer, 2. Brandon Monroe."

"I like you girl, I can see us being good friends." Chloe smiled, a toothy grin.

Lindsay smiled and nodded, Chloe was a tough girl raised in queens, she had learned over the tough years of high school that crying just ain't gonna cut it, her and her brother Danny had been respected toward the end because they never took anyones shit, and they had been raised by Michelle and Danny Messer, yes, she had also learned that Danny was Danny Messer Junior, named after his father, and he respected the name greatly, Chloe was named after their great grandma, great names from a great family.

Chloe and Danny had stuck together through it all, and Lindsay felt a sense of pride within that.

A few days later.

Lindsay was walking up the grey pave stones towards the outdoor area outside of the cafeteria which had many wooden picknick benches, Lindsay spotted Chloe sat among a few people, her friends probably, Lindsay had met one person today, which had been her first day, and he had asked her if they could spend lunch together.

"Hi, I'm Sheldon Hawkes, nice to meet you." he had smiled, he had dark brown eyes and he was black, he had a great sense of humour and had made her laugh often during the day.

She walked over and sat at an empty picknick table that was at the end and waited for Hawkes to come, she had nicknamed him Hawkes because she knew he hated being called Sheldon directly, after around five minutes she spotted him coming up the grey pave stone path with a boy who was slightly taller than him, he had light brown hair and blue eyes, he and Hawkes sat down facing Lindsay and she smiled at them, glad to be meeting new people.

"Hey Linds, you don't mind do you?" Hawkes said, pointing to the new comer.

"No, not at all." Lindsay said politely, the boy held out his hand for her to shake, she took it and shook.

"I'm Adam Ross, nice to meet you..." he grinned, his cheeks going slightly pink.

"Lindsay Monroe, good to meet you too." she smiled and opened her bag, taking out an egg salad sandwich and a bottle of orange juice.

They all ate in silence for a few minutes before someone shouted Adam's name.

"Hey Adam, Can I sit with you guys?" a deep but young voice came, Adam turned around and smiled, "Sure!" before turning back to Hawkes and I.

a tall boy with dark brown hair, almost black, and cerulean blue eyes sat at the table, he placed his bag in front of himself and pulled out some poorly wrapped chicken sanwiches, he smiled at Lindsay and put his stuff down.

"Hey, You must be Lindsay, I'm Mac Taylor, nice to meet you." but for once, he didn't hold out his hand for her to shake it, he just grinned widely at her.

"Yeah, and thanks, you too." he laughed, "Bet you're getting sick of hearing that lately."

"I guess you could say that..." Hawkes and Adam were giggling like two old ladies together, Lindsay laughed too, she had only been here a week and she already loved it. she had met some really nice people, and there was probably more to come.

"So, now that you've met me, Hawkes, Adam, the Messer's, you're gonna meet some more people, so, there's Stella Bonesera, Jessica Angell, Sid Hammerback, Jo Danville and Don Flack. You won't see Jo much since she's not studying here, but everyone else are regulars, and just a warning, Jess and Don are dating, they have been for like two years now, but they always argue and fall out, I'm surprised their even still together, I really don't get it, they are so wrong for eachother, it's unreal."

So, Don Flack and Jessica Angell were an item, but they weren't working, not something new in college life.

"right...so what about Stella?" asked Lindsay, wondering about the one girl Mac hadn't said anything about yet.

"Oh, Stella's pretty cool..." he trailed off and looked down.

"Haha, one thing you forgot to mention Mac," Adam smiled and turned to Lindsay.

"Mac here and Stella dated for almost a year and a half, I guess the hurt is still fresh for Mac.."

"Oh, I'm sorry Mac, I know what it feels like." Lindsay said, grabbing his hand and squeezing gently.

Mac's cheeks turned a light shade of pink and he smiled, "Thank's Linds." Lindsay smiled and got back to her lunch.

Hawkes and Adam were discussing their studies, Hawkes was explaining how sweet corn goes through the digestive system, it didn't seem to bother anyone, not even Lindsay, she had become used to things like this while eating, she had never been pegged as squeamish.

For the career she had in her mind, she couldn't be squeamish, she wanted to be a member of the NYPD and work in a crime lad, that had always been her dream, to become a detective, an investigator, she had always wanted to join the police service, make something out of her life.

"Right, it's time to go, it was nice meeting you Lindsay." Adam rose and smiled, Lindsay rose and threw her trash in the can next to the table and slung her bag over her shoulder.

Hawkes tapped her on the shoulder and she smiled, she waved to Mac and Adam as they walked the other way.

"Later Lindsay." Mac shouted and smiled as she and Hawkes walked towards their class.

"Adam and Mac seem nice, you have some great friends Hawkes."

Hawkes laughed "Yeah, I've known Adam since high school, and I met Mac a few months ago, they are great friends, even the ones you haven't met yet, You'll love Sid, he always has a story to tell. I don't know about Jess, But I'm sure you'll get on with Jo and Stella."

Lindsay frowned and wondered why she wouldn't get on with Jess, maybe she had issues, who knows really.

"Why do you think I might not get on with Jess?" Hawkes raised his eyebrows as we walked into the class and took our seats.

"Well...her boyfriend Don is quite the handsome guy, and she always casts her eyes on any new girl, every girl that passes them by, she doesn't even really love Don, but she knows that he's hers for the moment, and she'd hate any other girl taking him away from her, so she's quite a tough cookie when you first meet her, so don't be upset if she's a bitch to you at first."

"Ah, the clingy, 'I don't want any other girl to have him' thing."

Hawkes laughed again "I guess you could say that, Don's a great guy though, I'm sure you'll like him, he's friendly, and he never puts up with Jess taking her shit out on anyone else."

Lindsay nodded, maybe Don Flack and Jessica Angell weren't ment to be, but there wasn't anything she could say about it, she remembered her ex boyfriend back in Montana, how that had ended bitter and twisted.

_Flashback_

_"Lindsay Monroe, how are you?" Lindsay looked up from her book to see Jake Stevens standing above her, she smiled, "I'm good..you?"_

_"You wanna go get a cup of coffee with me?" _

_End of flashback_

And since that coffee, everything had changed, she had been madly in love wth Jake, and he had seemed to love her too.

and for a time they did love each other, until Ashleigh Crop came into the equation...let's just say Lindsay ended things because she knew Jake didn't love her anymore. And sure enough, three weeks later, Jake and Ashleigh were an item...at least he had waited three weeks, even though Lindsay wasn't quite over it.

Ashleigh had tried talking to her, "I'm sorry Lindsay, I didn't mean for this to happen." Ashleigh was a sweet girl...so Lindsay couldn't hate her, if anything she should have been mad at Jake for his lack of effort towards the end, she shouldn't have thought it was her fault when it clearly wasn't.

"Earth to Monroe...Linds, you there?" Hawkes laughed as she shook her head and rubbed her eyes.

"Oh, yeah, I was just thinking of my ex, but don't worry, over it now." she laughed, pushing Jake and Ashleigh out of her head.

The day carried on at a fairly fast pace, and by the end of the day Lindsay was dead on her feet, she trudged towards her and Chloe's room, she knocked twice, no answer, before shoving her key in the lock and twisting.

She shook off her clothes and pulled on some shorts and a NY track t-shirt and collapsed into bed, she glanced at the alarm clock on her bedside table, 7:30PM. she sighed and closed her eyes.

She later woke up to the dorm room opening quietly, they're room was fairly big, they had a living room/kitchen a bathroom and their rooms.

she heard quiet voices.

"Heard your sis is rooming with Lindsay, Adam and Mac told me that they met her earlier, seems nice, pretty too." she heard an unknown voice.

"Yeah, she's nice alright, Hey Chloe, grab me a beer!" she heard Danny's voice yell quietly through the room.

"Will you two bone heads shut up! Lindsay's asleep in the other room..." Lindsay laughed quietly at Chloe's sharp words.

"Oh...it's only 10." Danny said, not realizing that Lindsay was home.

"Yeah, I saw her earlier with Hawkes at the end of classes, she looked dead on her feet."

"Aww sweet, bet she's cute." she heard the unknown voice say, she blushed, not used to being complimented by new people.

"Donnie, you have a girlfriend remember." laughed Chloe.

oh..it was Don Flack, who Hawkes was telling her about earlier, the nice guy, she wondered if he was hot, and decided whether to come out or not, she decided she'd listen quietly for a few more minutes.

"Yeah, don't feel like it, Jess is pullin' on my last nerv, think we've been goin steady too long."

"Ah, that's too bad man, don't mean you gotta jump on the new girl though, imagine what Jess would do." Danny laughed.

"I don't care what she'd do, if we weren't seeing each other anymore, than I don't give a flying crap." Don laughed.

Lindsay yawned loudly and sat up, she heard the people in the other room go silent.

"Linds, you awake?" shouted Chloe, Lindsay yawned again for effect.

"Yeah! I'll be out in a minute.."

she heard Danny mutter something then yell ow!, she was sure she heard 'Here's your chance Flack'..she laughed to herself, she wasn't getting involved with an involved guy.

She pulled her hair out of the pony tail it was in and threw it up again, it was late, so she didn't really care, she came out and sat on the other sofa next to Chloe.

"Hey guys, sorry I've been out hours, was deadly tired earlier." Lindsay smiled at everyone in the room, including the infamous Don Flack, and she had wondered if he were hot, and he was, definitely.

"Don Flack, nice to meet ya." he said, Lindsay smiled, he looked kind of mesmerized.

"Lindsay Monroe, the pleasure is all mine." she heard Danny say "oooh, here we go." quietly in the background.

Chloe and Danny stared at the two with cheeky grins on their faces, Danny, being Don's best friend knew he and Jess weren't going anywhere, and that eventually they'd end, and he also knew that Don was yet to find the girl for him...and maybe, just maybe he had now.

"You want a beer Montana?" Danny asked, walking to the to the kitchen and opening the fridge

"Sure, and nice nickname." she grinned, she loved these people.

"Get me one too bone head." Chloe said, propping her legs on the coffee table.

"Sure thing, and Chloe, if I'm a bone head, then so are you, cause you're my lovely sister." Danny laughed, chucking Lindsay and Chloe the cans and sitting next Don on the couch.

"Not as much of a bone head as you and Flack here. Me and Linds win this one." Chloe held up her hand and Lindsay high-fived her and opened her can of beer.

Chloe turned on the TV to some crappy film that everyone was more than happy to watch, all night Flack had been staring at Lindsay, and she had been doing the same, thinking she had been being discreet, Flack wanted to be a detective too, and he had been taking classes in observing, and he knew Lindsay was staring at him too...He could definitely tell there was an undeniable attraction between them, the only thing on his mind was his 'ugh' girlfriend Jessica Angell...how she'd take it if he dumped her, even though it was way past the time that they should have ended it anyway.

by the time the film had finished it was 1am, and they were all a little tired.

"Well, it's friday, you two can crash on the couches unless you want to go back to your own room." Chloe said, shrugging her shoulders before heading into her room.

"Good night guys!" she yelled before shutting her door, Lindsay started to get up, Danny was taking extra pillows and blankets from the closet and making up the couches, he chucked two pillows and a blanket at Flack.

"Well, I'll see you two in the morning, nice meeting you Flack." Lindsay said again and smiled.

"Sleep well Babe..." he said winking, she blushed and all but ran into her own room, behind her she heard He and Danny laughing together.

her phone vibrated suddenly as she got into bed.

_YOU totally like Flack! xxx - Chloe Messer _Lindsay blushed even more before tapping a reply.

_Am I that obvious? and not really considering I only met him today! xxx - Lindsay Monroe_

_YES, you both are, you two weren't even watching the film, you were both stealing glances at each other all night long, and don't worry about it, I know Flack has a girlfriend, but not for long I don't think, not now you're in the picture xxx - Chloe Messer_

What? Was Flack going to dump his girlfriend of two years for her, a girl he didn't even know...that was crazy!

_What!? He can't do that, him and Jess have been dating for two years...that isn't fair, he doesn't even know me! xx - Lindsay Monroe_

_Ah, ah, ah, He and Jess haven't been happy for a long time, so maybe it's time they do, anyway, I'm going to sleep now, night xx - Chloe Messer_

_Okay, night xxx - Lindsay Monroe_

She put her phone on charge and put her head against the pillow, she wasn't even really tired, suddenly the urge to pee became known and she knew that the bathroom was by the kitchen, near the living room, so she was gonna have to creep through.

she quietly got up and opened her door and started slowly walking down the hallway, she heard voices so she stopped.

"You like Montana dontcha." She heard Danny say, she heard huffing and puffing.

"Yeah, I do...guess its time for me and Jess to end it."

"Well, you and her weren't meant to be anyway, maybe you and Monroe will work something out."

"Yeah maybe."

Lindsay decided to make a noise, she yawned and sloppily walked through to the bathroom, they both shut their eyes pretending to be asleep, she laughed and went into the bathroom, having heard their whole conversation.

on the way back they were still 'sleeping', she smiled and went back to her room, shut the door, got into bed and turned the light off, drifting into a sweet sleep.

_Okay. so mega long first chapter. I love CSI NY... :)_


	2. I love New York

Disclaimer- I own nothing apart from characters that are my own that I choose to insert, Chloe Messer is mine, but the other's ain't :( lol.

Flack stared at the cup of stone cold coffee that sat on the table, she hadn't touched it, he knew this would be tense, from the moment he had knocked on her door, entered her room, sat down on the couch across from her.

"What's on ya mind, you ain't talkin." Jessica Angell said, she seemed annoyed, she wore a skimpy pink silk night gown and nothing else. Though Flack felt nothing towards her anymore.

"I'm thinking." Flack said, giving her the eye, she shrugged her shoulders and pulled a blackberry from the pocket of the night gown.

"Well while you think, I'm gonna talk to someone who will actually talk. Flack shook his head, he knew it would go this way, she was a selfish girl, didn't really care about anyone other than herself.

"I wanna end it. you ain't for me Jess." that made her look up from her phone. her face crumpled with anger.

"What you try'na say, I ain't done nothin' wrong...this is all you!" he shook his head.

"I know you ain't done nothing wrong, this is me, not you, we haven't been working for more than half of this shamble of a relationship Jess, and you know it, but you chose to hold onto me, you hate whenever any girl even looks my way."

She shook her head too, eyes welling up with tears, it made him feel bad for doing this, but it had to be done.

"Fine, I loved you Flack...I did, you didn't seem to care!"

He got angry "I loved you too! but you fell out of love with me first, I ain't havin you blame me for this." He got up and left her room, anger filling his veins, he slammed her door behind him and pulled out his cellphone.

"Hey Johnny, Can I come and shoot some rounds, I am learning to become a detective for the NYPD, may as well start my sniper training as early as I can."

He heard the older man laughing in the background, "Your making your father proud ain't ya, and come round then, I ain't seen you in a while." Johnny said, happiness in his voice as he talked to Donald Flack Jr, he had been friends with Flack's long since deceased father, Don looked so much like him, Johnny Starvos could hardly believe it, he had been a cop for more than twenty years.

"Alright, see ya soon John." Flack flipped his cell shut and shoved it into his pocket, un-beliving in modern day society's new high-tech phones.

Flack had been born and raised in queens, grown up with his sister Samantha Flack, even though she was MIA for the moment. So he knew his way around New York...which was good.

He jumped into his car and drove further into the bronks, parked outside John's place and got out of his car, he walked up to the door and buzzed John's apartment.

"Flack, that you?"

"I'm here." Flack said, smiling, he loved training, especially gun training.

John had converted the back rooms of his appartment into a target practice room, he was licenced to own guns, so there was no problem there, as he was Detective Johnny Starvos, he'd been in the service longer than most, and was one of the best sniper's they had, and Flack looked up to him for that.

John walked down the hall to the special sound proofed room, Flack on his trail, as they entered, there was a sniper rifle set up on the table, and the target sitting strapped to a chair, Milano Valcrez, convicted of beating, raping and murdering over thirty women in the forty five years he had lived.

No one was meant to know that John did this, the FBI let it happen though, they'd handed Milano Valcrez over to John in secret.

He was gagged and tied, so there was no chance he could move.

"This is gonna be your first kill Flack..."

He knew that this had been coming, but if you want to be a detective, you have to go through sniper training.

"Do my professors know this is goin down now?"

"Yeah, they give you good luck, this is all part of it Flack, I just hope your man enough. In order to abide to the law, you may have to take down the bad guys, even if they die, it means your serving your country."

In past classes they had been shooting bags of flour and other target material with the sniper rifle, never an actual human being.

As Flack stood in front of the rifle and prepared to kill Milano Valcrez, he thought of all the innocent women he had raped and killed in his life, which made Flack want to pull the triger even more.

"Think Flack, think of all of those poor women, they had families, children, husbands, think of all of that this scum bag took away."

Flack gritted his teeth, bracing for the right moment, he stared into the cold dark brown eyes of Milano Valcrez, without breathing, he looked into the eye piece, even though the suspect wasn't moving.

And without remorse, Flack pulled the triger, the stool Valcrez was tied to fell to the ground with the force of the shot, he died instantly.

"Well done Flack. Clean shot, not many newbies acheive that when they come to me, your father managed, and I'm glad you did too."

Flack let out a long breath, he had acheived a lot in this day, and he glanced at the watch on his wrist, it was barely 10 am, he had broken up with Jessica Angell, his crazy ass girlfriend, and killed a wanted serial killer, someone who had been wanted in many countries, and John would be the one announcing to the FBI that Valcrez was now dead, of course they'd ask whether he killed the man or not, or whether one of the guys training to become a member of the NYPD had.

"I'll give you the credit for this one Flack, I did for your father." Flack nodded stiffly, He knew he couldn't go back to the way he had been living this morning, he knew that now he had made his first kill, he was a different person.

"You ok Flack, I know this kinda thing ain't easy..." Flack nodded, he took another breath, everything would be fine. Because at the end of the day. cops killed the bad guys, if they had too, and he was to become one someday. So he had to learn.

"Yeah, I'm fine Starvos, thanks for teaching me this stuff, without you, I'd be behind in life, I'll be back, same time next week?"

John nodded "Course Don, it's a pleasure, see ya soon." with that Flack headed out of the appartment and drove back to his and got ready for the day.

He and Mac were training for the same goal, and they would both get what they wanted, they had been good friends since childhood, same with Danny.

They were pretty much family, he thought back to the night before at Chloe and Lindsay's room.

He remembered admitting his attraction for Lindsay and then having her walk across the hall and into the bathroom, neither he or Danny knew whether she had heard anything or not, but he hoped in a way that she had, because he wanted her to like him.

And things like that usually didn't come easy for him, his cellphone started to ring, he looked at the caller ID and smiled.

"Heya Sam, how ya doin?" he said cheerfully to his sister.

"John called, said ya made ya first kill, I'm proud of ya Don, mom and dad would be proud too, I gotta go now or I'll be late, but I'm callin' you back later, you better pick up boyo."

"I will, love ya Sam."

"Love you too." he heard the click and smiled, sliding the phone back into his pocket.

This was the first time he'd heard from Sam in a couple weeks, he was glad she seemed ok, probably doing something good with her life hopefully, he knew she had an alcohol problem, but most of the people in the Flack family had already gone through that multiple times, as had he, it was the norm really.

He got ready and called Danny.

"Hey, you meeting me or what? I ain't waiting around all day." he said, mock anger lacing his voice.

"Alright, alright, keep ya wig on Flack, I'll be out in a jiff." he said before hanging up.

Danny had been asleep when Flack had left Linds and Chloe's room that morning, guess he slept in, but Flack was always the more organized one.

The door opened and Danny came out, looking fresh outa the shower, normal for a saturday morning.

"Lindsay asked where you had gone ya know..." he trailed off with a smirk.

"Oh did she now." Flack smiled, he'd always been the charmer, and he was gonna charm his way into Miss Monroe's heart, as best as he could.

"Yeah, I gave her your number, and I didn't expect her to take it, but she did ya know...I ain't looking forward to what Jess is gonna do when she finds out you're chasin' the new girl."

"Shouldn't be a problem...much, I broke up with her this morning, and another thing, I made my first kill this morning too, went to see Johnny Starvos."

Danny patted him on the back, "Way to go kid, I'm nervous about mine too." they all knew Johnny. And they were all doing the same thing.

"Who'd ya kill?" Danny asked curiously, all thoughts of Lindsay vanishing from his head.

"Milano Valcrez, murderer and rapist, convicted of over thirty murders, mostly women, shot the bastard right in the heart." Flack said coldly.

"Good. bastard deserved it."

"So...where are we going today." Danny asked as he got into Flack's beaten up car.

"Breakfast sound good?" they both smiled, like they'd ever say no to good food.

In the cafe, a blonde waitress came up and took their order, giving Flack and Danny the eye, Flack paid no attention, wheras Danny was loving it.

"She's hot, I'd tap that..." Danny said, wiping his mouth on a napkin.

"Yeah maybe, but I ain't looking for anyone else, not at the moment."

Danny smiled, him and Chloe had a perfect plan going, and neither Don or Lindsay knew anything about it.

"Aww, Monroe got you whipped already has she?"

"What you talkin' about Messer?" he laughed, giving Danny the eye.

"I'm talkin' about you and Montana...I see it, I ain't your best friend for nothin!"

"What do ya see then Messer?" Don said, giving Messer the bone.

"I can see her being the one for you...out of all the girlfriends you've ever had...and I'm being honest and truthful fella."

Don gulped, he could see himself with Monroe too, he could see her pregnant with his baby standing in front of a cooker in a New york appartment cooking breakfast, then marrying her.

"It's strange...but I can see myself marrying her." Danny smiled, his best friend had finally found someone...who hopefully felt the same.

"Well...we oughta set you and Lindsay up, if you're seeing stuff like that.."

Flack smiled "Yeah, but I wanna do this on my own." Danny nodded, but he and Chloe had already planned for them to go on a date, hopefully they wouldn't mind.

Flack was all smiles for the rest of the afternoon, even though throughout his day he had done things that no normal person would have done, he killed someone, Milano Valcrez. He made a list in his head.

1. Killing Milano Valcrez

2. Breaking up with Jessica Angell

And somehow, those two were two big ones, and he also had an aims list..somehow manage to get Lindsay Monroe to fall in love with him.

"So, how's life.." Sid Hammerback looked up from his book to see a young girl with curly brown hair and brown eyes, she was fairly short and cute looking, Lindsay Monroe, as Mac and Adam had told him.

"Good so far, I'm just learning more about all 206 bones in the human body, interesting stuff." He smiled.

There was something quirky about him, like Mac had said, he was forever telling stories, so she decided to ask him about things he was into.

"How many ribs are there in the human body?" she asked, looking genuinely interested, Sid was shocked for a brief moment, since when had any girl, especially a pretty girl ever been interested in the wonders of the human body.

"12 to be exact, six on each side." He smiled, he loved telling stories about the body.

"They are very flexible, and they protect the heart."

Lindsay knew all of this of course, "Yes, I'm studying Criminology, we have to learn all of this stuff, I have quite a few books on the body."

she smiled, he grinned too.

She and Sid were studying quietly, he thought about how funny it was that Flack had broken up with Jess and was all of a sudden interested in Lindsay, and maybe not because she was the new girl, but maybe because she was special, in a unique way.

"Sid, how are you?" a new voice entered the quiet space, Lindsay looked up to see a beautiful girl with brown curly hair, and green eyes sat down next to Sid, she smiled and Lindsay and stook out her hand.

"I'm Stella Bonesera, nice to meet you." she said politely, grinning, making dimples show.

So, this was the girl that Mac was hung up over, and she was beautiful, amazingly so, she had greek looks about her, a rare beauty.

"It's nice to meet you too, another girl, thank god!, I've met every one of the boys, just not you, Jo or Jess..."

"Ah yes, well about time too, you were probably going stir crazy."

"And Jo is lovely, but Jess, not so much, I'm sure you've heard about her, and a little birdy told me that Don Flack broke up with her because of a new girl, who I'm assuming is you, am I right?"

Lindsay shook her head, "I don't know him, I had no part in him breaking up with her, I've met Don once, that's all."

"I know honey, you haven't done anything wrong, if anything I'm glad Flack broke up with her, they weren't right for eachother." Lindsay sighed, glad that was over and done with.

"Yes, I'm glad I've met all of you though, you're all great friends."

Stella smiled, Sid was quietly watching the two, a small grin on his face, he had knew Don now had a thing for Lindsay, and he liked it, it was cute, and at least there wouldn't be anymore trouble from Jessica Angell.

"So, what do you think about Flack?" Stella asked, wanting the inner details about Don and Lindsay's little thing.

"He seems nice..." Lindsay trailed off, not wanting to let people know she had the major hots for Flack. Stella raised an eyebrow, not believing a word Lindsay had said.

"Well, let me ask you a question, what happened with you and Mac?" Stella sighed.

"He told me he loved me, I love him too, but I got scared, I couldn't tell him back, I don't know what to do, because every time I see him, I feel love, and regret for dumping him...I don't know what to do now, I'd sound pretty stupid if I asked him out again."

Lindsay had a thoughtful look on her face, "No, not stupid...you need to get the courage to talk to him, it would work."

Stella smiled, "I'll try, really, I will." Lindsay smiled brightly at her, she had always liked helping people solve their problems.

"Now that I've told you my problem, though yours isn't really a problem, tell me what you really think of Flack." Stella smiled, quirking her lips upwards.

"Okay...He's gorgeous, I know it sounds all gushy and girly...and I hate being like that, but it's the truth, I just feel bad, because of the whole Jessica Angell thing..."

Stella smiled and took hold of Lindsay's hand, Lindsay looked up and smiled sadly.

"I know it may feel bad, but you are the reason Flack ended things with her, he was just waiting for the right girl to walk into his life, don't cry over spilt milk, Angell and Flack weren't happy for a long time, she used to play him, used to start arguments over nothing, he would have done it some day, viable reason or not."

Lindsay sighed, feeling slightly better. "I don't want him to just dive in though, I don't want Jess on my back, what will I do then? I don't need someone's crazy ex-girlfriend on my back. I don't want to be involved."

Stella smiled, "I know, but people do crazy things when they're in love." Lindsay frowned, love? No, it couldn't be.

"You are the girl that Don has been waiting for to walk into his life, you are like the sun shining after a thousand days of grey clouds and rain, you've brought some life into his life, Don hasn't had it easy you know, him and his sister Sam only have eachother, their parents were killed when they were teenagers, that's why Don wants to be in the system. To do his father proud.

Lindsay smiled, "Sometimes it's worth taking that risk." Stella said, one of those wise looks on her face.

"I think that you should definitely talk to Mac though, you two seem like you'd make a perfect couple."

Stella nodded, "I will, don't you worry about that, I hope everything goes well between you and Don."

"So...now that you two have gotten that out of the way, how has your day been Lindsay?" Sid said, laughing.

"Oh my god...I actually forgot you were there." Stella said, looking quite shocked.

Sid laughed, "Well yes, I am a great observer, and can disappear into the background, which is why I am good at blending in."

"Well...My day has been good so far, Danny and Flack stayed at mine and Chloe's last night, so it was a good night, watched some crappy movie, but it was good."

Sid and Stella smiled, and they continued their studies in silence for the rest of the hour, once classes were out, Lindsay gathered her books and stuffed them into her bag, she, Sid and Stella walked out of the library together and headed towards the dorms.

"I'll see you guys later, it was nice meeting you Stella, Sid." Lindsay smiled, they nodded "You too." before going their seperate ways.

Lindsay checked to see if the door was unlocked just incase Chloe was in, and it wasn't so she unlocked it and entered, dropping her bag on the couch, turning lights on and getting changed into some sweat pants and a long sleeved t-shirt before sitting on the couch and turning the TV on, she turned her phone on to three messages from Chloe.

_Hey, I'll be late home, I've got some extra work to do, see you later Linds xxx - Chloe Messer 12:43 PM_

_Urgh I hate working longer than I have to! xxx -Chloe Messer 5:57 PM_

_Only half an hour to go! do you like chinese, I'm thinking of getting some for dinner? xxx - Chloe Messer 6:02 PM_

Lindsay laughed and began typing back a message

_Yes I like chinese food, pick up whatever, and I'll see you soon! - xxx Lindsay Monroe_

Lindsay shoved her hair up into a pony tail and rolled the band of her sweat pants over so they sat low on her hips because they were a size too big.

A knock on the door startled her, she got up and stretched, walking to the door.

"Chloe, open up! Flack and I are hungry, You better have dinner ready!" Danny shouted

When there was silence he laughed and shouted "I'm joking Sis!", Lindsay laughed and opened the door.

"Chloe's not here, she's working over time, but come on in! let me text her, she's picking up chinese on the way back, shall I tell her to get some for two more?"

"Sure thing, tell her we'll pay her back." They closed the door behind them and sat on the couch, Lindsay leaned against the counter and texted Chloe again.

_Danny and Flack are here, they want some chinese too, they said they'll pay you back xxx - Lindsay Monroe._

She put her phone in the sweat pant pocket and looked up, Danny was watching a game on the Tv, and Flack was staring at her, he had a cute look on his face, he looked her up and down making her blush.

He noticed and smirked, they laughed when they heard Danny shout "BOOM!" when one of the players scored.

"Hell Yeah! the black Sox won again!" Lindsay smiled, "Baseball obsessed much?" she laughed.

"Hell yeah...always and forever baby!" he shouted, Flack and Lindsay were crying with laughter.

Her phone started ringing, it was Chloe.

"Hey Chloe, you ok?"

"Yeah I'm good, so bone heads one and two are back again, well tell them they better pay me back cause I don't have much money." she said, sounding a tad pissed down the phone.

"Guys, Chloe says you better bay her back cause she's a few bucks short." Danny and Flack nodded.

"They said they will, Ah, okay...see ya later." Lindsay shoved her phone back into the pocket and tried to stare at anything but Flack.

Don couldn't believe he was seeing Lindsay in sweat pants, most girls would run into their rooms and change, but No, she didn't care, and she looked so hot...he knew he had to make her his soon, because a girl like that hadn't walked into his life for nothing.

"BOOM!" They heard Danny cry again, and Lindsay burst into giggles, which Flack found incredibly cute.

"Best game ever, jeez Flack, ain't you into any kind of sport?" Danny asked, kidding around.

"You know I am, football, you name it, I'm from queens, I know my stuff. Used to go to the game with my dad." he smiled, remembering fond memories.

The only available spot on the couch was next to Flack, so Lindsay held her breath as she stepped over Danny's legs and plopped her butt into the seat, which put her in close proximity to Flack's warm body.

As they watched the game, she could hear him breathing, and even that was enough to make her heart beat faster, she was going over what Stella had said, over and over again in her head. She was really beginning to think about the posibilities of what would happen if she pursued Flack.

Flack loved everything about her, her personality, the way she wore her hair, and that she wasn't afraid to express her opinion to anyone, even people she didn't know, before her, his love life had been boring, he had been with a self-obsessed girl who only thought about herself, Jess wouldn't be seen dead in what Lindsay was currently wearing, even in the confines of her own home. And he also liked that she didn't exactly come from money, her parents probably weren't obscenely rich. Heck, he hadn't come from money either, but there people like Jess, who had, and didn't appreciate the small things in life like he knew Lindsay did. Overall, she was a very sweet girl.

When Chloe got in, she was aware of two things, her bone head of a brother was immersed into the black sox game playing on the box and Lindsay and Flack were sat very close to eachother on the sofa, stealing glances at each other every now and then, she smiled cheekily to herself, and only wished Danny could see what she was seeing.

"Foods here, Linds, you mind helping me plating up the food?" Lindsay got up and smiled, "No problem."

"Bada bing, bada boom! best game ever!..." Danny shouted again, which made Flack and Lindsay laugh again.

"Oh god, wish you would have been here for the past hour, your brother has been shouting and cheering all the way, he loves his baseball."

Chloe smiled, she knew her brother loved the Black Sox, he always had.

"Yeah, ever since dad took him to a Black Sox game when he was younger, they've always been his favourite team."

As they all sat down to eat, Flack and Lindsay found themselves sat next to eachother again.

"So, how ya doin Danny, Flack?" Chloe asked, her accent coming out thick and smooth.

"Oh I'm great...been a good day." Danny said, chomping on some noodles.

"I'm good, basic same shit, different day, but things are good, which I'm happy about." said Flack, spooning some sweet and sour chicken into his mouth.

"Lindsay?" Chloe asked, raising her light brown eye brows.

"Oh good, I met Stella today, I think she's gonna talk to Mac, I hope they get back together." She said thoughtfully.

Chloe and Danny both looked at each other and grinned.

"Oh, so we have a little match maker in town don't we, you gonna make a career or that or something are ya?" Danny asked, laughing.

"Nope, I want to be a CSI." Lindsay said proudly...Danny and Flack lost their laughter and looked shocked.

"I want to be a CSI, which you have to become a detective to be, blah di blah di blah, and Flack here wants to become a detective for the NYPD."

Lindsay smiled, happy surprise crossing her features.

"That's great...Danny I'm surprised I haven't seen you in any of my lectures since we study the same stuff."

Danny smiled, "Well I think I'm the year above, what are you learning now?"

"Criminology..." Danny smiled again, "Flack and I are in the same year, you're the year younger, how old are you Lindsay?"

"Um..I'm an early started as you'd probably guess, I'm 19, 20 next year, what about you?"

They all looked shocked.

"Woah, you must have got some damn good grades to start college at your age, you made a slam dunk in your exams?" asked Danny.

Wow. Just wow. Flack hadn't thought she was 19, 21 maybe...he felt kind of odd now because he was 23 in a couple of months, four years older than her...wow.

"Yes, I got mostly A's in all of my exams, I wanted this bad enough, so I studied my ass off to get this, and I finally did. They said I could go to any college I wanted, and I chose NYU because it wasn't posh and full of up your ass snooty people and stuff, They even said I could go to an Ivy league college...but I didn't want too, but I'm glad I came here.

They all looked presently surprised, they had never figured Lindsay was smarter than all three of them put together, and 19 of all ages, basically still in her teens.

She was so young, and so beautiful, Don smiled...He'd bagged himself a smart, sexy, beautifuly amazing girl...he was happy inside, and so glad he had met her, he thanked the heavens for her choosing to go to NYU instead of an Ivy league college that she could have gone to.

At around 9, Danny and Flack were about to head off before Flack stopped Lindsay in the kitchen while Danny and Chloe were watching TV.

He coughed, feeling nervous as hell as he approached her, she turned around and saw him quite close to her and blushed, her heart accelerating.

"Linds, do you maybe wanna go out on a date with me on tuesday night? I ain't tryin' to rush ya or anything, I just thought that maybe we could have some dinner and talk, ya know, get to know each other."

Lindsay's blush deepened and she grinned like crazy, deciding in that moment to take the risk, like Stella had said earlier.

"Yeah, I'd love too..." She quietly said, her cheeks bright red, he smiled and let out a big breath.

"Thank god. I don't know what I would have done if you had said no." He sighed, in relief.

"Don't worry..." she said breathlessly.

He moved a bit closer to her and stroked her cheek, he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek, aiming to be the perfect gentlemen.

She blushed again and sighed happily as her heart was speeding away.

"I'll pick you up at 7?" He asked, moving his hand away to shove them into his jean pockets.

"Sure, see you then, here's my number she said, passing him a small piece of paper that had been left on the fridge for Chloe a few days earlier."

"Thank's Babe, I'll call ya later." As he and Danny walked out of the place he had an incredibly cocky smirk on his face, his charm having returned.

As they left the room, Danny turned to Flack and grinned.

"Lemmee guess, you asked her out, and she said yes."

Flack grinned. "You betcha."

They both laughed and walked down the stairs towards Flack's old car to go home.

_Ok, you, as my readers should know, my chapters are long when I can be bothered, and for my first reviewer I'm gonna fix Stella and Mac up together, so don't you worry._

_And for the second reviewer, Thanks for your enthusiasm, to be perfectly honest, I didn't think I'd get 2 reviews, if any!_

_Thanks guys. _

_Love Natalie xxxxxx_

_P.S, Isn't Flack just so hot?! don't you guys agree. thanks xxxx_


	3. The central park rondevu

Disclaimer- I own nothing, except from characters which I choose to insert. :) If only I could see Eddie Cahill's body...why are all of the CSI NY cast gorgeous...but married :( haha.

Jenny don't be hasty - Paolo Nutini

Beautiful Day - U2

Lindsay closed the door behind her and locked it and plopped herself onto the couch, Chloe had said she wouldn't be back tonight, she hadn't given much information about why, just that she was seeing someone, maybe there was a new guy in her life, Lindsay guessed she'd just wait until Chloe decided to tell her, you need trust in a relationship, and they'd only been friends for a month or so.

She'd seen Mac and Danny earlier for coffee, it had been good, she loved Danny's sense of humour, he was a funny guy, and Mac was similar too, they were all good friends so far, Lindsay was so glad she had escaped Montana.

She got up off of the couch and walked into her bedroom, she undressed and grabbed some shorts and a baggy t-shirt and changed into them, she turned on the Tv and turned on law and order, she grabbed a blanket out of the cupboard and draped it over herself, she fell asleep before law and order could end, those classes really were taking it out of her.

A few hours later, Flack had been a bit concerned as to why Chloe had given him the key to her and Lindsay's apartment.

He remembered the conversation, rubbing the side of his jaw with his fingers, feeling the five o'clock shadow beginning to form.

_"Why are you giving me your key?" Chloe smiled, and patted him on the shoulder_

_"Why else, She will be asleep when you go in, that is if you do, make her some dinner, surprise her, it's a good way into her heart."_

If Chloe was the expert on getting Lindsay to fall in love with him, he'd listen to her, even though she was sometimes crazy.

at around 8, Flack gently pushed the key into the lock, trying to make as little noise as he possibly could, he held his breath as he pushed the door open, he could see colourful splashes of light reflecting off of the walls, the TV was on at medium volume, He stayed absolutely still for about a minute, just making sure she was asleep, he sighed in releif when there was no sound coming from the couch other than soft even breathing.

She was wrapped around a blanket on the couch, one leg in, the other out, bent at the knee, she looked just as beautiful as ever, a breath of fresh air, and he wanted to know what it would feel like waking up next to her in the morning, he decided not to perv on her any longer and walked into the kitchen, he had brought ingredients for sweet and sour chicken and a pre-made chocolate cheese cake, he made the sauce and added the chicken, microwaved the rice, while watching her intently, incase she'd wake up, but as Chloe had earlier said, Lindsay slept like the dead. Once he was done, he plated up the rice and sauce, cut two squares of the cheese cake and carried the plates into the living room, quietly setting them onto the glass coffee table.

He took a feather from his pocket and began tickling Lindsay's nose with it, soon enough she was twitching, and stirred.

"Flack...what are you doing here? what time is it?" she said, though looking happy to see him all the same.

"I'ts around 8:45, and I cooked you dinner." He grinned as her cheeks flushed red when she remembered what she had been doing for the past 45 minutes while he cooked around her, and what clothes she wore.

Her eyes widened suddenly "Flack, how did you get in?" she said, still groggy from sleep.

"Chloe gave me the extra spare key, made for emergencies apparently." He smiled at the joke.

Lindsay rubbed her eyes and sat up, once the black spots had cleared from her vision, she grabbed the plate of delicious looking sweet and sour chicken and dove in, moaning at how good it tasted.

"Oh god, Flack your cooking is amazing! whoever taught you deserves a medal." She smiled, they cleared the plates, including the cheese cake dishes.

"My mom, when I was younger I always used to help, so I guess I learned." Lindsay grinned, "Well I think I died and went to cheese cake heaven."

Once they were through, they leaned back against the couch and watched the big bang theory, where Sheldon and some blond haired girl who's name he couldn't remember argued about laundry which led to the girl calling Sheldon's mom, they laughed through it all until eventually Don glanced down half way through a show called new girl, Lindsay was sound asleep, her head against his chest. He had no idea how they got into that position, he didn't feel like moving her so he got comfortable and pulled the disgarded blanket over them and closed his eyes.

Chloe opened up the apartment door at 11 am, and walked in, some shopping bags in hand, she almost dropped them when she saw the couple tangled together on the sofa, a blanket draped across them, thank god, thought Chloe, that they were still clothed, Flack's jeans and white dress shirt looked slightly rumpled, he wore some colourful socks, rainbows, and Lindsay wore an over-sized t-shirt and some pjama shorts. Her head in the crook of his neck, they were angled towards each other.

Chloe smiled and walked into her room and shut the door, she'd let the love birds wake up in their own time. She was glad that she had left told Flack to go and make Lind's some dinner, she hadn't thought he'd stay though, and they hadn't even had their first date yet.

Lindsay was groggy when she woke up, she felt something warm and hard, but cuddly at the same time beneath her, she rubbed her eyes and looked up, she was cuddled into Don Flack...and they hadn't even been on their first date yet, her cheeks flushed bright red, he looked cute when he slept, his head was slightly tipped back, the smooth lines of his face evident, his chest rose and fell, he was very warm, Lindsay glanced at the clock, 11:24 am, she shrugged, it was her day off, she leaned back into him and closed her eyes, she felt his arm wrap around her waist tightly, Flack moaned in his sleep before falling into a deeper slumber.

Their legs were entwined, one arm around her waist, his lips pressed into her neck, his messy hair brushing her chin. Her head was on his chest, her hand spread out on his lower abdomen, they were hand's on sleepers. Throughout their sleep they kept moving, eventually Flack ended up using Lindsay's chest as a pillow subconsciously, while her arms were wrapped around his broad shoulders.

Eventually Don became aware of his surroundings, Lindsay was still cuddled into him, he smiled down at her and stroked some stray strands of her mid-length curly hair out of her face, he loved it when she wore her hair curly, she was one hell of a beautiful girl, and he hoped things would go alright with her, he knew they would, Lindsay seemed just as infatuated as he was...perfect.

"Lindsay wake up, we've been sleeping all day!" Don laughed as she moaned loudly and ran her hand through his hair.

"What time is it?" Lindsay asked, sitting up slightly, Flack smiled and checked the watch on his wrist

"It's four...wanna go back to sleep?" he asked jokingly, wondering what her answer would be.

"Yes...come on." She said, rising from the couch, she folded the blanket and draped it on the back of the couch, she grabbed Flack's hand and draged the confused man to her room. A light blush covered his cheeks as he realized she wasn't done sleeping, and she wanted him as her partner. She flung back to cover and slid in and patted the space next to her, He looked confused.

"Linds...I don't wanna sleep in these clothes, I might head back to my place..." He trailed off when Lindsay lifted a finger indacating for him to stop.

"Just take them off and get in, I don't mind.." she trailed off smiling surely.

Flack eyed her suspiciously, Lindsay Monroe...the girl he'd had his eye on for the past few weeks wanted him to take his day clothing off and get into bed with her...sure, why the hell not.

He shuffled out of his clothes and jumped under the covers, he shivered slightly at the coolness of the sheets against his skin but shrugged it off, soon feeling the warmth radiating from Lindsay's body. He felt a small arm snake around his waist, her hand rested on his hip and he shivered again from the warmth, he glanced up and saw Lindsay looking at him questionably, Her questioning eyes turned cheeky and she smirked.

"You really are a piece of work..." He muttered, knowing she'd heard every word he'd said.

"I know, but you like it, if you didn't, you wouldn't be here." He nodded, she was right, the only thing on his mind was that they hadn't even had their first date yet and he was already in her bed.

She pulled away slightly, putting her phone onto the table beside her.

He frowned, not wanting to ruin the happy cloud they were in, looked up, hoping Lindsay wouldn't notice. She however did, she was staring at his every reaction, and caught on to what he was thinking immidiately.

"I know what you're thinking, I'm not rushing things Flack, I still want our date, We're taking things slow OK...there's no telling you'd end up here, sleeping in my bed, it's not like we're doing anything, I'm not that kind of girl." She said seriously.

Flack shook his head, He knew Lindsay wasn't that type of girl, He knew she wasn't like Jess had been, they had slept together on their third date, too blinded by lust, and Don didn't want that to be the case with Lindsay...he valued her too much for that.

"Listen, I wouldn't ever rush you, Jess and I rushed into bed too quickly, and I don't want that to happen with us, you're special to me Lindsay, I'd never jeopardize our relationship that way."

Lindsay smiled warmly and leaned in, kissing Flack on the cheek, she knew he wasn't like that, she had never thought he was.

"Come here." He said, sending shivers down her spine at the deep tone of his voice. He opened his arms and waited for her to crawl into them, once she had he wrapped his arms tightly around her, buried his head into her neck, kissing down to her shoulder.

"Calm down baby, Don't start something you won't be able to finish." She laughed at his look.

"Oh I'd finish it alright, ya little tease." Lindsay enjoyed the feeling of Flacks muscles, her hands pressed against his chest.

"Like what ya feel?" He smirked, glancing down to where her hands were splayed.

"Yes, I do. And I hope that soon I'll be the only one touching you at night." She whispered into his ear which made Flack shiver.

"Nothin' stoppin ya Monroe..." He chuckled, stroking her hair lightly.

"I'm thinking we better slow down, I can't wait for tuesday!" She laughed. Flack laughed too.

"I'm keepin' my hands to myself Monroe, this is all you!" He said, putting on a innocent face. She shrugged and lay her head on his chest. She was out first, He glanced down at her, glad she'd come all the way from Montana to go to NYU. He really liked her, she was something special, and he hoped she'd be in his life for a while.

Tuesday Morning.

Lindsay rushed around the apartment, she was ready for classes, but she needed to figure out what she would wear later on that night, she wanted to impress Flack, but not look like a slut or anything.

Chloe walked out of her room and saw Lindsay ransacking the place, she dropped her bag on the floor and stood in front of Lindsay.

"You will be fine, and I have the perfect dress that you can wear, not too slutty, not to granny-style." Lindsay gave Chloe a look and she laughed.

"You don't know how nervous I am!" Lindsay moaned. Chloe rolled her eyes, "God, it's Flack for pete's sake, you've already had him vurtually naked in your bed and your fretting over your first date."

Lindsay glared at her, "That's only because he didn't have any sleeping clothes, and I didn't want him to be uncomfortable." she said innocently.

Chloe raised her eyebrows at her, giving her the 'I know your lying' look. "Don't give me that bullshit. You totally wanted to see his body!"

Lindsay blushed but didn't say anything, she carried on looking around, even though Chloe had given her something that could potentially solve her problem.

"Hold on, let me go find that dress, sit tight Monroe." Lindsay let out a large sigh and sat on one of the sofa's, she glanced at the watch around her wrist, they still had fifteen minutes before they had to go anywhere. She sank back into the couch, trying to relax herslef some more.

Five or so minutes later Chloe came out of her room with a pretty white sundress that was flecked with red flowers with green leaves, it was beautiful, and she knew exactly what she could wear with it.

"I bought this last summer, never really wore it much, so you can borrow it." Chloe smiled, blue eyes shining, Lindsay got up and hugged Chloe.

"Thank you, I don't know what I'd do without a friend like you Chloe." Lindsay said truthfully, she didn't have a friend as good as Chloe back in Bozeman, so she was very glad.

Chloe smiled, "Your welcome, and I love you too Linds, you're my best gal." Lindsay smiled and went to hang the dress up in her room.

Once she returned her and Chloe grabbed their bags and headed down in the elevators towards the street level and walked to the college, grabbing coffee and blueberry bagels on the way.

Meanwhile, Flack was sprawled out on his bed, arm thrown over his eyes, He didn't have classes till one so he and Danny had planned to meet at eleven, but Flack never ever heard his alarm clock, no matter how loud it was. Danny stood outside banging on the door of Flack's apartment, like every morning.

"Flack, get out of bed, ya lazy bastard!" Danny shouted, angling his head upwards towards Flack's open window.

"I'm up...quit ya moanin'." Flack grumbled, pulling himself out of his way too comfortable bed, he glanced in the mirror, his hair was sticking up everywhere, he needed a shower.

"Come on up Messer, Need a shower anyway." Flack shouted out the window, it was only eleven thirty four, so Danny let himself in and sat on the couch, turning on Flack's crappy TV to some random football game that was on.

20 minutes later Flack strode out wearing Jeans, a long sleeved blue t-shirt and some beige lace up boots he had found on the floor, he was clean and fresh, looking forward to his date with Lindsay later that night.

"God, the times you wake up, would'a thought Montana was here keepin' ya up at night, but no, it's all you." Danny laughed, eyes glued to the box even though football wasn't his prefered sport.

"Shut it Messer, it ain't my fault I have trouble sleepin' sometimes, y'know." Flack laughed, sitting down next to Danny on the sofa.

"It's gonna be a beautiful day.." Messer sang along to the U2 song blasting from the apartment next door. Even though it was an old song, it was a good one.

"Ah, what'a lovely singin' voice you've got there Messer, maybe you should sign up for american idol...I'm sure you'd win em' over with ya singin." Danny glared at Flack, punched him in the arm and turned his eyes back to the TV

"You know damn well I've heard you sing in the shower, you'd be the one winning em' over." Danny muttered.

"Maybe, And I'd love it, I'll sing Lindsay a love song for valentines day if I won." He joked, pretending to be a modern day romeo.

"Yeah, and the birds would drop dead at the sound of ya voice." Danny snickered. Flack laughed, shaking his head.

"One minute you're saying I've got a good voice, the next you're saying my voice has the ability to kill birds, make ya mind up." Flack laughed again.

"A bit of both really." Messer said, eying Flack with a smile. They carried on their careless joking as they headed to a cafe around the corner for breakfast.

"Chloe and Lindsay have early classes today, so hopefully Linds will be out early." Flack mused, spooning some eggs into his mouth.

Danny smirked and tapped Flack on the shoulder, "Someone's lookin' forward to their date." He said, some bacon shoved in his mouth.

Flack nodded, taking a large sip of his coffee, he hoped Lindsay would like what he had planned, it hadn't took long to think about, and he'd very nicely asked his Ma to make them a picknick basket full of food, he said he'd do anything she wanted whenever she wanted for a month to do with work round the house and other things like things she needed from the shop. Tedieous but you know, anything for Ma.

"I'm takin' here to central park, Ma made all the food and everything, thought it would be nice ya know." Flack explained, nodding to Danny.

"I'm sure she'll love it, she already seems taken with you."

They both smiled, Flack valued Danny, they had been best friends for years, and nothing would ever come between them, they had a lot of things in common, which made two best friends, they went to any kind of sports game together, didn't care if the other didn't really prefer the sport, but ya know, that's what best friends do.

Later that day Lindsay was sat in her last class, resting her chin on her hand, elbow against the table. She tried to listen as Mr Mcarthy droned on and on about moleculer make up. Hawkes was in the same position, scribbling something on his note pad, looking at the board, as if he was interested.

A neatly folded piece of paper hit the floor by her stool, she tiredly glanced up and saw Hawkes staring at her, then the note, then here again. She dropped her pen by 'accident' and leant down to get it, picking up the note too.

_As much as I want to become a CSI...is going over the molecular make up really necessary? _

_Yeah, if you wanna do the job your studying for, then yes. It is necessary...laughs._

Sheldon pursed his lips then smiled at Lindsay, turning his eyes back to the chalk board.

The rest of the class went slowly, Lindsay tried to pay attention and gathered a few notes on molecular make up, but not much, she closed her book before the teacher would see what was inside and shoved it into her bag.

She and Sheldon walked from the class to the main court yard, Lindsay checked her watch 6:45 PM. Damn she thought, turning to Hawkes, giving him a breif goodbye before running off. She had completely forgot Don was meant to be picking her up at 7. She hurried through the crowds of people and hailed a cab, giving him her adress. Ten long minutes later she rushed into the appartment and dropped her bag by the table, dashing into her room, peeling clothing off as she went.

She had just got out of the shower when the door bell went off, Chloe wasn't in so she'd have no choice but to answer the door in the poor excuse of a towel that was wrapped around her body, it barely reached her middle thigh. She sighed, rubbing water from her brows and lashes, she slowly walked towards the door, hearing Don knock a few times.

She pulled open the door to see Flack dressed in some grey jeans, a dark blue button down shirt and a leather jacket. He had a boquet of pink and white lillies in his hand. His jaw dropped when he saw her and he tried to control his blood flow from escaping his brain and going to other places that weren't for now.

"Um...I thought I was picking you up at 7..I can come back." He stammered, eyeing her body up and down. Lindsay blushed.

"No, come on in, I'm late home from class, this isn't anyone's fault." She laughed nervously.

He smiled and walked in and over to the couch to sit down. He glanced up to see her standing by the door, still clutching the towel around herself.

"Your...you look beautiful." Don mumbled, blushing again, Lindsay scoffed and began walking towards her room, but she stopped before she could disappear down the hallway.

"Thank's Don, you look good too. But right now, I'm the exact opposite of beautiful. I'll be out in 15." She smiled, walking into her room.

Don let out a huge breath. He sure as hell hadn't been prepared for that, he couldn't stop himself from remembering how she looked in that small little towel, how beautifully creamy her skin looked. And how he wanted to lay her down more than anything. He shook his head fiercely. They hadn't even had their date yet, sure, he'd seen her in bed clothing, but never that close to naked. She was beautiful.

Meanwhile, Lindsay let her hair dry into wavy little curls, it was still partially wet but it would dry eventually. She slipped on the dress Chloe had given her, perfect for that time of year, from what she remembered the sun was still shining outside. She put on some flats and grabbed a grey cardigan. She put on some light make-up, trying to be quick, not wanting to keep him waiting longer than she already had.

She walked out and saw him sitting in the same place, he stood up and moved closer.

"You shine up like a pretty penny Monroe, You're beautiful." He said, pushing back a lose curl of her hair.

"Oh please, I'm sure you say that to every girl Flack." Lindsay joked, watching his face fall, sure he'd dated a lot of women before Angell, but he'd never been a player. That title was for Messer.

Lindsay's smile dropped when she saw Flack was staring off into the distance thinking about what she had said.

"I was joking Don, seriously...that's something Danny would say, not you...I was just messing." She said softly, placing both hands on her cheeks. He stared at her for a second, she sighed, deciding to bring out the big guns.

She placed her hands on his shoulders and captured his mouth with her lips, her hand running through his short hair, she shoved her tongue into his mouth, seconds later he responded, arm wrapping around her waist, pulling her flush against him.

They made out for a few seconds before lack of oxygen became a problem. Flack's cheeks were flushed red, Lindsay wore a cheeky smile.

"Told you I was joking. Do I need to prove it some more?" She asked, Flack smirked, fingering a loose curl on her back.

"Maybe a little." He said, winking at her. She sighed and moved in to kiss him again, a few minutes later he was gasping.

"Oh..definitely proved." He said breathlessly. Lindsay smiled and pulled back slightly, grabbing his hand.

"You gonna tell me where we're going then?" She asked, glancing up at him.

"Nope. You're gonna have to wait and see gal." He winked, towing her towards the door. She huffed but followed, once they were in the car, Lindsay tried to follow the signs, but considering she didn't know the city all too well, she had no idea where they were going.

They pulled up in a street, Flack unbluckled his belt and turned to face Lindsay as she unbuckled herself.

"We're here...Now, close your eyes, this is a surprise after all." Lindsay stared at him blankly.

"You want me to walk with my eyes closed. No chance Flack." She laughed at the look on his face.

"C'mon Lindsay, you trust me don't ya?" He said, giving her puppy eyes. She nodded and sighed.

"Of course I do...but being blind isn't really a strong point for me."

Flack smiled and got out of the car, she did too and shut her door, she smiled when she saw Flack having trouble fiddling with the lock on his ancient car. Three minutes later he finally got it.

"Ugh...going to need to buy a new car soon, this thing's a piece of crap." He complained. But considering he wouldn't have a job with the NYPD till next year, he was going to have to wait. The last year of college would be a sad one, but it also excited him that he'd be working for the finest police department in the country, doing his father proud. it made him think about his future, he glanced at Lindsay, hoping that if they were in a relationship, it would last for a long time. She'd still be in college when he'd be a detective, working hard to get her science degree, and he'd be out there in the field chasing the crooks of New York city. Hard circumstances, but somehow, he knew it would work.

"Earth to Flack!" She shouted, clicking her fingers in front of his face, he snapped out of his mind and smiled at her.

"Okay. Close your eyes baby." He said, moving behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders so he'd be able to guide her forward.

"Ooh baby. Not something you've called me before." Flack shook his head, and walked her forward towards the gate of central park. The good thing about this was that he knew she didn't know the city, and he wanted to show her all of the best places, he was glad that Lindsay had decided to come to New York. If she hadn't, he'd probably still be stuck in a dead end relationship with Jessica Angell. Not something he wanted really.

After around 5 minutes Lindsay started to become impatient. She grabbed his hands and pulled him along faster, with her eyes still closed.

"Come on...if we carry on going at this pace, we're never gonna get there." He glanced around, they were deep enough into the park for her not to know where they were going so he let go of her shoulders.

"Alright cranky pants. You can open your eyes now, I know you won't know where we are." She smiled and opened her eyes, they were in a park, though New York had many, she had an idea of where she was, she'd googled parks in NY a while back before she planned on moving and she vaguely remembered the scenery, then it came to her and she beamed up at him.

"We're in Central Park!" She squealed, He frowned slightly, but then realized that she of course would have looked up parks before she moved here.

"Urgh...ruin my surprise why don't ya!" He pretended to be angry, knowing she wouldn't believe his false anger anyway.

"Oh stop being a big baby!" She shouted, still beaming.

"Monroe...I ain't a big baby...do I look like I'm a baby." He said, pulling a poker face.

"No...you're a very sexy man. No where near a baby." He smirked and lead her deeper into the park to where their little pick nick was set up.

Once she had stopped talking long enough to spot it, she gasped.

"Oh Flack, this is so sweet! No one has never done this for me before." She said, seeing all of the food and drink laid out for them. She saw sparkling sweet cherry wine, a container filled with Mushroom chicken pasta, bread rolls, strawberries and grapes, and a chocolate cake for desert, all on a little red blanket. She could feel her heart jump, she really liked him, She hoped this would work.

They sat down on the blanket, Flack started opening tubs and poored Lindsay a glass of the wine, the sun was just setting, light slanting through the trees making everywhere look beautiful.

They ate in silence for a while, Flack laughing at the occasional moan from Lindsay because she enjoyed Ma's cooking so much.

"Oh you have to tell your Ma she should become a chef, her food is to die for. Now I know who you got the cooking skills from, I'm never gonna let you leave." She smiled, Flack eyed her hungrily and leaned in, kissing her, she responded moving closer, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. She crawled into his lab and carried it on.

A few minutes later Flack pushed Lindsay from his lap, "Woah, Linds, we need to slow down, and we are in a public park, don't need public indecency on my record." Lindsay blushed and composed herself.

"I'm sorry...I just get carried away when I'm around you." She admitted, blushing slightly.

"Don't worry gal, you do the same for me."

The rest of the date went great, once it started to get dark Lindsay helped Flack pack everything back into the box his Ma had put it all in and stowed it in the back of his trunk. He drove her back to the apartment building and held her hands when they stood on the door step, staring into eachothers eyes.

"I really, really enjoyed myself. I want you to stick around." She said, breaking the silence.

"Your not the only one. I'd be more than happy to stick around Monroe."

"Well then, it's settled." They kissed sweetly, a goodbye kiss of course, there were parts of them that just wanted to jump into the relationship, but the rational parts of their brains mucked it up.

"I'll call you." He whispered, kissing her again.

"You better." They shared one last kiss before they departed, Flack walking back to his car, and Lindsay going into the apartment building.

She knew from the first time she looked into Don Flack's eyes, he was the one.

And funnily enough, so did he.

_That's all for now folks. GAH. Wish I had more reviews. C'mon...I know I'm lazy sometimes and don't review, but I really want to hear people's opinions, what I can improve on, stuff like that._


	4. You'll be thanking me later

Disclaimer- I own nothing

_Feedback is welcome- Though people never seem to review anyway, but hey, views are great too. Anyway..as much as I love Don and Lindsay, I'm going to make this chapter a little more about everyone else's lives. ;)_

_YOU PROBABLY WON'T UNDERSTAND THIS CHAPTER IF YOU DON'T READ THE A/N _

_Oh and another thing, I know I've made some mistakes based on the characters backgrounds in this and would be appreciative if you guys would over-look them, I know Mac was in the military and is a lot older than the others, and I know that Danny was born and raised in port richmond, Staten Island, and I had Chloe say they were from queens, I mixed Danny and Flack up...and I know a lot more about their backgrounds now, so sorry if I'm wrong._

_And there are a lot of things different in this. I'm gonna class Don and Lindsay as dating now consdiering they basically sealed the deal in the last chapter. It's sped a long a bit and the friendships between people are more developed. I.e. Danny and Lindsay are best friends. Just some changes really...I hate waiting. I'm so impatient. Sorry. Oh and Danny's in love with Lindsay._

Lindsay walked into her 9 O'clock biology class and spotted Mac sitting on a lab table with an empty seat next to him, he spotted her and waved her over. She smiled and sat down, getting out her bio book, note book and pen before dumping them on the table in front of her.

"Hey Lindsay, having a good morning?" He asked, seeming quite happy even though he was awake at such an early hour.

She grinned happily at him, "Yes, I'm good. You seem awfully happy too." He grinned again.

"Yeah, Stella and I are back on track now, she wanted me to tell you that she misses you." Lindsay raised a brow.

"Where is she?" Mac laughed, "She's got the flu, she's been staying home for the past few days, and she wanted me to give you her number." Mac reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper with Stella's number on it.

Lindsay accepted the paper and smiled, tucking it into her pocket for later, they still had around fifteen minutes before the teacher would turn up. Mrs Adahay was known for being late, though it wasn't really her fault considering she'd only just come back from maternity leave, she had a baby boy who was around six months old and a six year old daughter, so the college usually let her off.

"I feel sorry for Mrs Adahay, sometimes the board give her a hard time because she's just come back from maternity leave, and she's not always available." Lindsay mused randomly.

Mac nodded, "Yeah, she's a great bio teacher, they shouldn't give her so much crap."

They continued to chat until Adam walked into the room, slightly flustered, he sighed in releif when he saw that Mrs Adahay wasn't here. Adam was normally later than her, so she'd always kindly scold him. She was never mean about it which all late comers were thankful for.

"What's up Adam, glad you beat Mrs Adahay to it this time." Mac laughed at Adam's flushed face as he took a seat next to Lindsay.

"Yeah. I woke up late again, stupid alarm clock, I'm gonna need to buy a new one. The damn thing never goes off when its supposed to." They all laughed at the irony of it, Adam began taking things out of his back pack before throwing it to the floor.

A few minutes later Mrs Adahay walked into the room, flustered, holding the hand of a little girl who wore a little blue dress, she had blond hair in pig tails.

"I'm sorry guys, Anna is going to be in the class today, her day carer bailed on me so I had no choice." She said, setting her bags onto the table top.

Lindsay tood up, "I'ts fine Mrs Adahay, anything I can do to help?" Adam and Mac also stood up, wanting to go wherever Lindsay would be going.

"Uh, can you take Anna to the girls room and get her cleaned up, I didn't have time this morning and she's got golden syrup all over her hands and face, probably in her hair too." She sighed smiling.

"Sure." Lindsay smiled at the little girl and held out her hand, "My name is Lindsay, let's go." Anna smiled at Lindsay and took Lindsay's hand, making it sticky too. "Okay Lindsay." She began to walk Anna out of the room.

They walked into the bathroom and Lindsay saw a little ledge that Anna could sit on, "Anna, can you sit on that ledge please, it'll make things easier." Anna nodded and hooshed herself up onto the ledge with little effort, making Lindsay smile at her innocence.

Lindsay tore some paper towels from the despenser and wetted them, only damp enough to clean away the smudges of golden syrup. She walked over to Anna and began dabbing her hair line, to make things less quiet she decided to ask her some questions.

"So, why aren't you in school today?" Lindsay asked curiously, Anna made a face. Indicating she didn't like school.

"My teacher is off sick, and it's almost time for vacation. Momma said I could stay with her today when Sally didn't turn up."

Lindsay nodded, wiping more syrup off the girls face. Once she was done she held out her hand, Anna took it and jumped down, they walked back to the class room in silence and Lindsay went back to the lab table to join Adam and Mac who were currently writing an assignment from the text books. She guessed there wouldn't be anything practical about today's lesson considering Mrs Adahay's daughter was in the class and it was biology. So her mother probably didn't want to scare her. Lindsay smiled at how cute Anna was, she was currently playing with some dolls her mom had brought along to keep her happy during the day.

"I'm so bored." groaned Adam from beside her, he placed his pen beside his note book and leaned his face against his palm. They all hated written assignments, but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do.

"Of course your bored. You think we're not?" Mac answered, a bored look crossing his features.

"Think. We're here for the next hour and a half. And it's only been half an hour." Mac glared at Adam before glancing down at his biology book and continued to write.

Adam shrugged and picked his pen up again, carrying on because neither Mac or Lindsay said anything more.

After another half an hour had passed, Lindsay was the one to put her pen down, the other students in the class all looked bored too. Even Anna looked bored, she had abandoned her barbies and was snow skimming through a bio text book, grimacing when she'd come across something she thought was gross. Mrs Adahay was at her desk grading papers. Lindsay prefered practical lessons, so did everyone really. They just couldn't stand the boredom. With an hour remaining, it seemed like forever.

When the bell finally rang, Lindsay sighed and stretched her muscles, sitting up straighter. She packed her stuff into her bag and got up, following Mac and Adam out of the door, before she could go she stopped at Mrs Adahay's desk where she and Anna were sitting.

"See you later Anna, bye Mrs Adahay." They both looked up and smiled, "Thank you for helping me with Anna earlier, Lindsay, I appreciate that. And yes, see you later."

"Bye Lindsay." Anna said, looking up from playing with her dolls again.

Once she had left the room, Adam and Mac were waiting for her, they all headed into the court yard and sat on one of the marble slabs that they called benches.

"Linds. You want a blueberry bagel?" Adam asked, rooting around for the bagels in his bag, Mac already had one in his face, enjoying Adam's mom's cooking.

"Sure, your mom makes the best." Adam grinned before pulling out two more bagels wrapped in tin foil. He handed Lindsay one before unwrapping his own.

They ate in silence, it was a nice morning, but they only had a thirty minute break before they had to be in chem class with Mr Boyd.

She wondered where Danny was, he had chemistry with them next hour. But on the other hand, Danny was always late to class. Something that Mr Boyd gave him hell about. Lindsay fished into her bag and pulled out her cell phone, pressing speed dial 7.

"Uh...Hello." A sleep filled voice answered, Lindsay smiled, of course he was still in bed.

"Danny it's Lindsay, where are you?" She heard some minor banging and crashing.

"Oh shit Linds, I'm late aren't I." Lindsay laughed, this was a regular occurence for them, Danny had told Lindsay a few days ago to call him if she hadn't seen him in the morning around the college, she'd agreed because she liked Danny, he was a sweet guy. She saw him as an older brother.

"Yes Danny, You're around two hours late, now get your ass into college before Mr Boyd can pitch a fit."

He grunted "Great, the moody old bastard's never going to let me get away with this one."

Lindsay shook her head, "Well instead of staying on the phone to me talking about it, hurry up and get ready!"

"Okay Mom." She laughed again, letting the mom joke slide.

"See you soon Danny." She flipped the phone shut and put it back in her bag.

"He's always late, I think that Mr Boyd secretly loves it when Danny's late, maybe he's gay. Likes punishing his male students." Mac said, throwing his tin foil in the trash.

"Danny has a special interest in being late...or maybe it's the fact that Mr Boyd has a special interest in Danny. Ugh what a paedophile."

"Adam! You can't say things like that." Lindsay said, slapping Adam on the arm, He moaned and rubbed his arm.

"Sorry...but maybe it's true. There are always rumors like that in schools."

"Um...I hope Mr Boyd doesn't have a special interest in me. If he did, I'd be scared." Danny said, dropping his bag on the ground, taking the empty space next to Lindsay on the marble bench.

"Anway, I caught the subway. So no trouble from Boyd today." Danny wrapped his arm around Lindsay's shoulder and smiled.

"How did your date go with Donnie?" He laughed, making Lindsay laugh at his choice of nick name.

"That's funny because he calls you Danno. And it went well, really well." She smiled, making them all laugh.

"Yeah, Danno, Donnie whatever. And I'm glad, he really needed to get away from Angell. Thanks for moving here best friend."

Over time, Danny had become Lindsay's best guy friend, they were the dynamic duo whenever Don and Chloe were both absent. They spent time together too, and Chloe had always joked about it.

"You two are like Batman and Robin, I swear." Adam said, making Lindsay think back to what Chloe said. She smiled and nodded.

"I'm Batman though...Danny's the nerd in green tights."

"What, Robin isn't a nerd...They are part of the costume." Danny argued, flicking Lindsay's shoulder.

Danny frowned, "Hold on a sec, Batman wears lycra...not far off from tights Monroe. We're even." He said, holding up his hand for a high five, which Lindsay slapped in return.

"Fine. But at least there not green."

"God...I love super heroes. I have a poster of Wonder Woman on my wall." Adam said dreamily.

Danny raised a brow. "Adam...You need to find yourself a girlfriend."

"I like this girl, so it's close enough. And you can talk Danny."

"I do have a girlfriend, her name is Ella."

"Yes, he and Cindy suddenly departed, and Ella walked into the picture two days later, Becuase that's how quickly Danny moves on." Lindsay joked.

"You know everything dontcha Montana." Danny mused.

Everyone who knew the group had always noticed how close Danny and Lindsay were, how every time they were together, Danny had his arm wrapped around Lindsay's shoulders.

Don had wondered about that too, but he knew Lindsay was his girl, and Danny had a girlfriend. And in a way he admired their friendship.

Flash Back

Lindsay was alone in her and Chloe's apartment, it was saturday morning. Chloe had gone out to meet the mystery guy Lindsay had been wondering about for weeks. She reminded herself to ask Chloe about that. Considering they shared basically everything now.

Don would probably still be sleeping considering it was only 10 AM. Lindsay was reading the New York times, getting back into the real world for a moment. One of the NYPD detectives had been killed in a cafe shoot out and everyone in the department was mourning her. Her name was Jennifer Courtland. She was pretty, blond hair and blue eyes. Underneath the headline they had said she was an asset to the department. That made Lindsay wonder, in the next few years she'd be training to be a cop, and a scientist...then she'd become a CSI.

She wondered about the risks, Jennifer Courtland had been killed in a shoot out. There would be a constant reminder that she had to be safe. Be a smart cop, be everything she was working so hard to be.

A knock on the door startled her out of her thoughts, she rose and walked to the door, glancing out of the peep hole. Danny.

She opened the door, "Hey Danny, Chloe's not here, but I can tell her you stopped by."

He shook his head. "No Montana, I'm here to see you. I'm taking you for breakfast. C'mon." She shrugged.

"Ok. Let me go get my jacket and bag." She smiled and walked into her room.

Once they were down on street level, Danny draped his arms around her shoulders, leading the way.

"I'm not letting you pay for breakfast, Danny." Lindsay complained as they walked down the street to a joint that Danny claimed to be the 'Best breakfast place in the whole of New York. And he also threw in that he and Flack were regulars.

"Yes you are, now shut up, we're almost there." Lindsay glared at him but listened anyway.

As soon as they entered the cafe, an old Italian man came out from behind the counter.

"Ah, Danny...nice to see you, and who's your lovely lady friend?"

Danny looked at Lindsay and grinned, "This here is my best friend, Lindsay...but I call her Montana because she's only been here about two months."

Best friend? That made Lindsay smile, she was glad Danny considered her as his best friend. That was something she didn't have back in Montana.

"Great! I was wondering when Messer was going to bring anyone in other than Don Flack." he laughed.

"Oh, I'm sorry gal, this is Paolo Youni." Lindsay shook his hand, he lifted it up to his mouth and kissed it, making Lindsay blush slightly.

"Thank you, Paolo."

"Let's get you two seated then." Paolo led them to a booth in the corner, you could see everything from that booth and Lindsay guessed it was Danny and Flack's booth.

"I guess you and Flack are here a lot. And since when am I your best friend?" Lindsay asked.

"Yeah we do. And I want you to be, ever since we met, I've had this feeling, that we should be best friends."

"Okay best friend." Lindsay smiled, making Danny smile too.

Danny's phone rang, he sighed, pulling it out of his pocket.

"Messer."

"Danno, thought ya'd disappeared on me or somethin'..."

"Nah, I'm with Lindsay, havin' some breakfast."

"Oh. She okay?"

"Yeah Don, she's good, and she's still ya gal...so stop ya worryin'."

"I know that, I thought I'd give her some space today, y'know to see her other friends."

Danny smiled, he'd liked Lindsay when he had first met her, but he'd decided to let Don have her since they'd been talking a lot.

"You can talk to her if you want."

"Sure, thank's Danno."

Danny passed Lindsay the phone, grinning at her, eyes going to the phone.

"Hey, how come I haven't seen or heard from you today?"

"Cause I thought I'd give you time to see your other friends, let Danno take you out for breakfast."

"You always call him Danno don't you. And thank you Don, I'll call you later. I miss you."

"I miss ya too babe. See you later."

She passed Danny his phone back. Paolo came and placed two plates in front of them with a full breakfast.

They dug in, enjoying the breakfast with a slight burst of Italian spices.

"Danno. You going to eat your bacon?" She teased, using Don's nickname for him.

"Yes, but I'll give you an extra strip if you want. You being my best friend n'all."

"Sure..." She smiled as he forked a strip of bacon onto her plate. Their friendship was growing gradually, but Danny knew he had to be careful, she was spoken for. He didn't want to ruin his and Don's friendship, but he couldn't help but like her. She was irresistible.

"Danny, your staring into space. Are you okay?"

He snapped out of it, shaking his head. "Yeah, I'm good."

Lindsay shrugged, shaking her head. She'd never be able to figure out the inner workings of Danny Messer's head, well not anytime soon.

"Did you know that Elena Morgan has a massive crush on you...She's in our boi-chem study class. I've caught her staring at you more times to count." Lindsay said, again snapping Danny out of yet nother day dream.

"Oh Yeah, Elena. I know that she likes me, she told Stella."

Lindsay frowned, she knew Danny hadn't dated in a while. They had a whirlwind friendship, they hadn't known each other long and were already best friends.

"Danny, Elena is a really nice girl, you shouldn't blow her off."

"I'm not. Elena isn't the right girl for me Linds, I can't help that."

"Well maybe you should try a little harder." She said, glaring at him, Elena was a sweet girl. Didn't give her heart to just anyone. Lindsay felt bad for Elena. She knew Elena didn't like her either, she envied Lindsay because she was Danny's best friend. That was something Lindsay didn't like about being best friends with Danny Messer. Every girl who liked him thought she'd be the one judging, the one who made his decisions which is totally wrong, but they still thought it.

This had been the same with three other girls, Dawn Cassidy, a girl from Brooklyn who kissed the ground Danny walked on.

Katherine Robson...Khloe Jenner...Lacey Fredrickson. The list went on. Those were all girls Danny had rejected over the past year, and she had no idea why. And all of those girls had Lindsay on their hit list because she knew Danny better than most people.

"Montana, what are you thinking about. You've been staring at your empty plate for five minutes now."

"Oh...Just all the girls that hate me because I'm friends with you." She laughed, brushing it off.

Danny frowned and grabbed her hand, "Montana, what do you mean?"

"Every girl that you have turned down this year blame me, they think I'm secretly the reason why you don't date. That I stop you from dating because I don't like the look of them or something."

"Oh. Well I'm gonna show them." He said, a frown etching his forehead.

"Danny, it's fine. I can deal with it."

"No Lindsay." He said, standing up, throwing a twenty on the table and walking out of the cafe, leaving Lindsay alone.

She sighed, grabbed her bag and rushed out onto the street so she could catch up with him, but he was nowhere to be seen on the streets.

She couldn't see him anywhere, she pressed speed dial 7 and waited as it rang.

"Hello."

"Danny, where the hell are you, you just disappeared!"

"I'm coming back. Stay where you are." He said before cutting the call off.

Lindsay grumbled something under her breath as she waited for Danny to come back. It took around five minutes until she saw him emmerge from the busy New York street crowded with people.

He had his hand behind his back. Obviously keeping something from her, she glared at him until he brought his hand forward. In his hand he had a boquet of white roses and a cream envelope in the other hand.

"Okay Danny, what's going on."

"I'm giving you this because you are the most amazing best friend I have ever had. Please don't take this the wrong way. I don't want Don on my door step asking me why I gave you these things."

Danny grabbed Lindsay's hand and led her to a nearby bench where they both sat, she placed the roses on the bench next to her and opened the envelope which contained a card with some kind of necklace that she couldn't see yet.

_Montana_

_Your my best friend, your Chloe's and your Don's girlfriend. So thanks for moving to New York. We love you._

_Danno- x_

She glanced up and smiled, lunging forward, arms wrapping around his shoulders, giving him a big hug.

"Okay Montana."

"Thank you so much Danny! I love you too, as a friend I mean."

_As a friend I mean._

It sucked to be him right about now. Don had the girl he liked and he had been turning down every girl in sight because he knew he loved Lindsay. But she didn't love him back. Life sucked.

"So, what are you doing later?" He asked, changing the subject from love.

"Oh. I'll Probably go and see Don, I'm not sure, depends on what time I get back because he lives in Queens and I'll have to get the subway."

"Yeah. I've got a date with Ella anyway."

"Oh nice one..." She said, grinning then going to place the items he'd given her into her bag, a small necklace fell out into the palm of her hand. It had a white gold chain and it it had a white gold 'L' hanging from it.

"Oh my god Danny...you didn't have to get me anything, I feel so bad now."

"I don't care, give me the necklace and turn around." She laughed, handing him the necklace. She lifted her hair up and smiled as she felt him fasten the necklace and place her hair back where it had previously been.

"Tell Ella that she's dating a rockstar, because you really are a rockstar Danny Messer."

He grinned nodding, though he had just lied through his teeth, and he'd made that up of the top of his head. He'd called Ella the night before, but they didn't have a date. Some would praise him for his lie conjuring skills.

He felt he needed to lie sometimes to make himself feel better. Don and Lindsay were happy. And there he was, alone. And he knew he wouldn't try and date any other girls because he had his eyes firmly fixed on Lindsay. He'd wait as long as it took. He knew he was thinking evilly, but he couldn't help it. She was destined to be Lindsay Messer. Not Lindsay Flack. He felt bad in a way because he was currently dating Ella, and he didn't really like her all that much, but hey, why wait around for Lindsay to be single. That's just wrong.

"Thank you for everything today Danny, I'm gonna have to love and leave you now though. Told Don I'd go to his place for four, and it's just gone three now."

Danny smiled. "Okay Montana. I'll call ya later, tell me the details."

She blushed slightly, "What details?"

"Ah I'm joking, I'll see you later Linds." They hugged and parted ways. Danny felt like he was losing out constantly. But again, he'd just have to wait. Good things come to boys who wait.

End of flashback

Lindsay stepped off of the subway, flustered. She'd been crammed inbetween many people who were headed to Queens and other places around the city, She wiped the sweat from her forehead and pulled her phone from her pocket and dialled Don's number.

"Hey babe." He said, New York accent a little thick with sleep.

"Hey Don, I'm in Queens. Just got off of the subway, I'll be there soon."

"Oh that's good doll, see ya soon."

"Bye."

She walked the five blocks to Don's apartment building and just made it before the doors to the elevator closed.

Her heart leapt as the elevator dinged. She got off and walked straight to Don's room and knocked.

He opened the door, pulled her inside while pushing her against the door and mauling her mouth.

When the lack of oxygen pulled them apart she ran a hand through his hair.

"Miss me, ah?" She said, trying to immitate the New York accent.

"I did Monroe, I did. Now the New York accent seriously thickens. You ain't doin' it right." He said, using an example.

"Oh am I not, sorry...didn't realise it had to be perfect Flack." She said, chuckling along with him.

"Baby...get outta here." He said, she slapped him on the arm playfully and they walked over to his couch and flopped down. She laid her head on his shoulder and wrapped an arm around his other shoulder.

"I missed you today. I've never missed a guy that much before."

"I missed you too. Lindsay you're my gal, time without ya sucks."

"And your my big sexy almost detective. Your gonna be a service man soon. Your going to have to flash the badge and all, use your deep voice. I'm detective Don Flack...You know, blah blah blah."

"Yes, and your going to have to listen Monroe, I'm a man of the law."

"Not just yet, you will be soon. Don't speak incorrectly."

"Oh I'm sorry." He smiled and kissed her on the cheek.

He got up and grabbed the remote, turning on ESPN to the highlights, one's he'd seen before with Danny, but were still good.

"How's Chief Inspector Gerrard?" Lindsay asked, knowing all the young guys in the academy that even had a hope in becoming a regular precint detective were all under close speculation of the Captain.

"He's good, Still a bastard though. He liked my old man, seems to like me too."

"I know you'll make it Flack, your going to be the best of those boys."

"Thank's babe." He said, kissing her on the mouth before turning his attention towards the box.

"Your one of everyone, I'll be facing Captain Gerrard too, and I'm not from New York, I have no family ties or anything, but I'm still going to try and make a good first impression."

"He'll love you. You are the most strong minded, determined girl I have ever met." He said, tucking some loose hair behind her ear.

"Thanks, I've just always had that knack, when I want something done, I'll make damn sure it gets done."

"Yeah, well Cheif Sinclair already loves you, and you're not even starting your training in the academy till later this year."

"I know, I'm nervous, but hopefully I'll be with Stella or something."

"Yeah, the academy is great, you learn a lot. All about being a great cop."

She smiled and kissed him on the cheek, he was going to be a great detective, she knew it. And she'd support him the whole way, because that was what girlfriends did, even though they weren't exactly in a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship just yet.

"Lindsay, I want you to meet my mom and my sister properly." She smiled and looked at him a little stricken.

"Wow, I'd say the same, but mine live in Montana."

"Do you think we're rushing things here, Don?"

"Not really...do you?"

"No."

"Glad we could get that over and done with."

"Well Sam will like you, and I'm sure she's in need of a friend or two."

"You can meet my brother Brandon, he goes to Columbia."

"Cool. He's not gonna beat me up for dating his sister is he?"

"Nah, Brandon's cool."

They shared a look and laughed, everything seemed carefree with them, nothing ever seemed to be a problem. They both felt one hundred percent comfortable with each other, they weren't afraid of the things that were coming quite fast.

"Mac's gonna be our boss one day, ya know. I can just tell."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, I ain't lyin' Monroe..." He laughed, trailing off.

"OK...well I always thought Mac was very level headed, very in focus of everyone and everything in front of him...So I guess you could be right."

"Yeah, that's what I'm sayin'." She shook her head, Flack was no genius, but he could tell certain things about the people around him which was a little strange, but unique.

"Don, you should become a fortune teller."

"Yep, I'd be good. Maybe I can predict Danno's future of being a porn star."

She smacked his arm, "Don that's not nice, Danny wants to be a scientist like me."

"I know, I was only messin' with ya."

"My old man doesn't really like Cheif Sinclair and Captain Gerrard, or should I say Chief Inspector Gerrard." Flack said with a face.

"I've heard people talk about Gerrard, let's just say, they weren't very nice things."

"He's a right bastard."

"Sinclair isn't as bad, my old man had a friend who was an officer, Sinclair can be lenient sometimes, depending on what it is."

"Yeah, I heard Angell's dad's a cop."

"Nope, well he was. He retired a few years ago, he's still honored though."

"And my old man is dead...died a few years ago. I miss him to this day, always knew how'ta keep Sam in line. Everyone in the department looked up to him, he was a legened as they say, I got given his title, Donald Flack Junior, just like his dad before him."

"Did Jessica ever tell you about what she wanted to do with her life?"

Flack raised a brow, "Yeah. Said she wanted to follow in her dads foot steps. She has three older brothers, the oldest was Joe Angell, he's still a cop today. She used to look up to him as a kid, she was always different, she's a bit ropey nowadays, but I think she'll consider it in the next few years. The academy is always open."

"I really don't see why she's so cold, she seems like she could be a nice girl."

"She used to be a nice girl, she got mixed up with the wrong people. It happens every day Linds."

They stared at random things around Don's apartment for a few minutes, while he fiddled with a piece of her hair. He really liked her, she was one of a kind, and he loved how they could talk about how much of a bastard Cheif inspector Gerrard was, and about Sinclair. He normally complained about them to Danny or Mac, never Stella or one of the other guys, always Danny and Mac.

"Do you wanna be my girlfriend?"

"Yes. No questions asked at all. I like you Don, I'd be more than happy."

"Good. Because I'd be more than happy to be your boyfriend."

"Another thing settled then."

"Yup. Want to order pizza?"

"Yes please, extra pepperomi."

He shook his head and laughed, "You and Messer are too much alike, I swear. He loves his pepperomi, always asks for extra."

"I know, he's like the brother I never had."

"That's good then, can't have any more competition."

She slapped his arm, "You don't have any competition!"

"I'm pretty sure I saw Adam staring at you once..."

"No Don. You've got it all wrong. He's in my biology class, plus he said he's got his eyes on a girl who I'm pretty sure isn't me."

"And another thing. It was once...once doesn't mean Adam likes me."

"OK, you must be hungry. I'm gonna go order the pizza." Don got up and walked over to the window, pulled out his cellphone and dialled a number. He was wearing black sweat pants and a white wife beater, Lindsay admired how the wife beater made him look, especially his arms and chest.

Once he'd hung up with the operator he turned to stare at Lindsay and laughed when he saw her admiring his body.

"You should buy more of those under shirts. They make you look so hot."

"Why thank you...and you should wear more tight trousers, they make your ass look great."

"Shucks...your a funny one."

"That's the way I was raised, baby."

"I'll have to thank your Ma then, won't I."

"Yes, I think you will, Ma Flack is the best, has the best cooking, has the sexiest son ever...the list goes on."

"Stop building yourself up and get your cute little ass over here."

"Cute. I'm a man, I'm not cute." He said, folding his arms and standing still.

"Oh cut the crap and come here already!"

He smiled and came back to the couch, she pounced on him as soon as he sat down, they lip locked, her hands running through his hair. He moved his hands to her waist and pulled her closer.

They were interrupted when the door bell rang, Don leaned back and smiled, blowing out some air and breathing in a much needed breath.

He got up and answered the door, throwing the guy a twenty and telling him to keep the change, he shut the door and came back to the couch, setting the pizza box along with a bottle of soda onto the table.

"Yay. The joys of extra pepperomi, only problem is that we were interrupted...your a good kisser Flack." She smiled, opening the pizza box and pulling out a slice.

"Right back atcha Monroe." He said, taking the second slice.

They ate in and watched the ESPN highlights until Lindsay grabbed the remote and began channel surfing.

"Hey, I was watching that." Don complained, mouth half full with pizza.

"So what, we watch too much ESPN nowadays...time for a change, not for too long though, you're not gonna lose your prescious sport, don't worry."

"Okay, okay. Please don't make me watch Glee though, I can't stand the singing."

She laughed evilly. "Mwahahaha. I'm going to torture you with 30 year olds pretending to be teenagers singing because I'm such an evil cold hearted person."

He gave her a worried look before shoving more pizza into his mouth, she then gave him a blank look.

"I'm not crazy at all."

"Yeah, that's why I like you, cause your crazy."

"Eat your freaking pizza macho man. I swear men always get cranky whenever their women change the channel from something other than sport."

He raised a brow, "Yep. So I'm your man now?"

"Well yes. You call me your doll, your gal, whatever the word of the day, so I'm entitled to call you my man."

"Fair enough babe." He said, giving her that smile she loved.

"Your such a cutie Don Flack, I swear I could eat you up..."

"And your such a pretty girl. I could eat you up too."

"And now I feel icky."

"You started the ick fest babe."

"I know. I was just telling you in another way how hot I think you are. Didn't mean to go all icky on you."

"I know...don't you worry, I'm laughin' inside, I'll still love ya, even when your drivin' me crazy."

"Ooh will you now?"

"Yep."

"I love New York accents. Yours is so sexy."

"And I love Montana accents, their so sexy."

"And I wish you'd stop mocking me."

He batted his eyelashes "I'm not mocking, who'd ever do that to you?" He said, feigning hurt.

"Don't be silly Don." She laughed.

"I'll stop being silly when you stop being cute."

"I thought we were stopping the ick fest. I don't want to go back there." She said, giving him a look

"Ok. No ick fest."

They flipped the channel to some program about forensics which Lindsay found interesting and Don just complained as usual.

"This is boring..."

"I'd listen up if I were you, even though your not training to be a scientist, you could learn a thing or two from this."

"Ok...well I got a high school diploma in science, so I know my bit."

"Not enough when it comes to murderers Don."

"Ah well...I'll learn from my sexy scientist girlfriend."

"Ok, I guess your lucky this time. When I'm teaching you, you better pay attention."

"Oh I will, Miss Monroe. Especially if you're talkin'."

"Good, now shh. I want to listen."

They spent the rest of the night watching crappy programs and kissing and arguing. Things people do when they've just started a new relationship.

Little do they know, a murder is happening right below them.

_oOo_

A/N: Cliff hanger! well it's not much of one, but you know. Enjoy.


	5. Houston, We have a problem

Disclaimer- I own nothing

_As Adam Ross would say, WHADUP!_

_To get a few things straight, This is a Don/Lindsay story...but Danny still has some feelings for her, but no worries. it's all fine._

The Bindall family murder would be all over he papers by morning and it made Lindsay feel sick to her stomach that she had known one of the victims, she had met Lacey Bindall a few times, and they had got on, Lindsay had always thought she'd become good friends with Lacey at some point, but things never really panned out.

Erin Bindall, Jeremy Bindall and Lacey Bindall had been the victims found in the apartment. Lindsay blamed herself in a way for not hearing anything, they had been in the apartment above for gods sake. Don had comforted her, telling her that the walls were thick, that the chance of her having heard the gunshots was very low.

Detective Skegnetti had asked Don to go downstairs and answer a few questions while Lindsay had stayed in Don's apartment, not really feeling up to doing anything, she had thought about going home, but she knew Danny and Chloe would bombard her with questions as soon as she went through the door.

Speaking of, her cell rang and she answered after two rings, glad to hear a friends voice after a while of silence.

"Hey Danny."

"Yeah, I'm ok."

"I'm not lying to you...okay, maybe a little."

"Yes you can come...Don's downstairs talking to Skegnetti."

"Okay. Bye."

Don knew Skegnetti wouldn't be rash with him, they needed to figure out who had killed the Bindall's, Skegnetti wasn't interrogating him...exactly why they weren't in the Precinct.

Lindsay spread herself out on the couch, pulling the blanket that had been draped over the back of it over herself, snuggling into the warmth it brought, she wished that Don could be up there with her, to comfort her further, but since he was the son of a legend, he was eligible for questioning about the crime, even though he hadn't heard anything, he knew his dad would be proud of him, and so was she.

She drifted off, trying not to think about Lacey Bindall and trying to think about happier times like when she was back in Montana with her brother or good times she had with the friends around her in New York.

"Lindsay, wake up...C'mon now." She heard his thick New York accent before she saw him, she smiled when he pushed a finger against her nose, making her swat at his hand.

She opened her eyes and got up into a sitting position so Danny could sit down next to her, she looked around for Don but didn't see him, she sighed sadly, hoping he would come back soon.

"How long have I been out?" She asked, rubbing her eyes.

"An hour or so, Don slipped out with Skegnetti to the Precinct to question Lacey Bindall's boyfriend, Don told me to stay here until he gets back, but that's not the only reason why I'm here, you're my friend Linds, I don't like seeing ya hurt." Danny said with a genuine smile, he opened his arms and beckoned her to hug him, she complied and stayed there for about five minutes before leaning back.

She slapped his arm lightly, "You are a very good friend, Danny. Thanks for being here." He smiled and ruffled her hear, making her lean back.

"Any time Kiddo."

They hugged for a while longer, Danny thinking that if he couldn't have her romantically, he'd have her in the friend sense, which included cuddling. He'd never been so jealous in his life, but Don was his best friend, saying something would screw it all up, and he'd never want that to happen, so he had opted to keep his mouth shut for as long as he possibly could.

"The Rangers are in town in two weeks. You wanna catch a game with me?" Danny asked, breaking the silence. Lindsay shot up with an excited look on her face.

"Yes! I love the Rangers! Don got me into them, but boy do I love them!"

Danny smiled at her enthusiasm, and even more so because she hadn't asked if Don could come, he had been waiting for the right moment to ask her if they could do something without Don...but he had never got the courage to ask her that without feeling like a complete selfish jerk.

She butted in, taking him out of this thoughts.

"And Don probably wont be able to make it, he mentioned something about seeing his sister Sam in two weeks."

Boom, Danny thought smiling, he'd have some alone time with his best friend for once.

"Cool, no worries." He said, trying not to sound as excited as he felt.

Eventually Lindsay had got up to make something to eat for her and Danny, half way through making the chicken noodles, the door of the apartment opened. Don strolled in, waved at Danny and headed straight for the kitchen.

"Skegnetti really knows how'ta question a guy...babe you makin' chicken noodles again, hope ya made some for me." He chuckled, wrapping his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"I made extra, becuase I knew you'd be back soon-ish."

"Soonish huh?" She nodded and he turned around, walking into the living room and dropping himself on the couch next to Danny.

"I'm beat. How are we gonna manage the hours detectives pull, I'm about ready to collapse into bed and sleep for fourteen hours." Don groaned, tipping his head back slightly.

"Yeah, you and me both...it'll take a lotta' coffee and a lotta' patience." Danny said, rubbing his eyes.

Lindsay strolled in with three bowles on a tray and set the tray down onto Don's glass coffee table that his Ma had given him as a parting gift.

"Is Chloe home, I forgot to check in on her?" Lindsay asked, sounding worried.

"Yeah she's fine, she said she'll be waiting for you when you get home."

Lindsay nodded, "I guess I better hurry up and eat these noodles and get back to her."

Don protested, whining and giving Lindsay puppy-dog eyes.

Lindsay, being the tough kind of woman placed her hands on her hips, raising her eyebrows.

"Don Flack, you can live with out me for one night...I live with Chloe, it's not like your never gonna see me again."

Don laughed and punched Danny in the arm for laughing at him, they dug into their noodles and scarfed them down before Lindsay could even get half way throug hers.

When Danny and Don put their bowles back onto the tray Lindsay rolled her eyes. "Men."

"What?" Danny asked, his accent thickening.

"Nothing..." She said, continuing to pick at her noodles.

Danny shook his head and chuckled, grabbing the remote from the table and turning the TV on.

"Repeat Rangers game?" Danny asked Don, who just nodded, eyes glued to the box.

Lindsay shook her head again, she loved those boys, but they never really paid attention to anything other than the TV when a game was on, she was pretty sure she could leave the room and neither of them will notice.

Once she'd finished her noodles, she grabbed the two bowles from the coffe table, ignoring complaints about her being in the way and strolled into Don's kitchen, depositing the dirty dishes on the counter. She grinned looking around the room, it was trashed, and there was no way in hell she would be cleaning it this time, it was Don's turn.

Once the half time break had come on she found the boys talking about some of the team members and who were their favorites. She cleared her throat, making them turn their attention to her.

"I'm leaving now. And Don, you've got a lot of work to do, it looks like a bomb has gone off in your kitchen, good luck cleaning that up." She chuckled.

Don grinned "Messer can help me."

Danny lifted his hands up "Get outta here!" he said, giving Don the 'As if' look.

"Ah C'mon...I've helped you clean your own apartment more times to count."

Danny gave him a blank face and shook his head. "No." Don grumbled something under his breath and got up off the couch, heading towards Lindsay and embracing her.

"I'll walk ya to the door."

Once they got to the door, Don shoved his hand into her hair and pulled her face up for a kiss, it was a sweet kiss, not too racy.

He pulled back and stroked her hair back "See you tomorrow, gal."

"Tomorrow...I'll call you tomorrow, I'm exhausted...I'll probably fall into bed after my briefing with Chloe."

"Okay gal...Goodnight." She waved and he closed the door. Heading back to the couch just before the Rangers game was due to start again.

Lindsay unlocked the door of her's and Chloe's apartment and walked in, knowing her bubbly neighbour and Danny's wonderful sister would still be awake. Chloe sat on the couch watching Judge Judy and looked up when Lindsay threw herself down onto the couch.

"Dumb and dumber driving you insane yet?" She asked, giving Lindsay a knowing smirk.

"Almost, did you hear about Lacey Bindall?"

"Yes. I didn't know her though, Danny called earlier."

"I knew when he said he was going to the bathroom he was really going to call you."

"Yeah, well I guess he thought you needed a friend."

"Thank's Chloe. I appreciate that." Lindsay said, giving her friend a hug.

"Want to talk about it?"

"No. I will soon, but I'm not ready to deal with it at the moment."

"Okay, now...tell me more about dumb and dumber."

Lindsay laughed "Danny asked me if I'd go to a Rangers game with him in two weeks, he said it was a mandatory best friend get together."

Chloe laughed "That boy and the Rangers...he was hooked after he saw his first game."

"Flack has been good too. He didn't want me to leave, he was practically begging."

Chloe raised her eyebrows. "I guess you pulled the 'Big boy' speach out on him after that."

"Uh huh..." Lindsay said, yawning.

"I'll let you go. You can tell me more about your boyfriend tomorrow. Night Linds."

"Oh thank the heavens." Lindsay said dramatically, waved then wandered into her room, shutting the door behind her.

She shrugged out of her clothes and dropped onto the bed, falling asleep soon after her head hit the pillow.

Lindsay woke up at two o'clock in the afternoon, groaning when she saw the time. No one had come in to wake her up so she figured Chloe was either out or sleeping. She knew Don would be sleeping too, being in the academy tired the hell out of him and Danny, both would be extremely cranky if they didn't get their promised fourteen hour sleep on a Sunday.

She checked her phone. Nothing. So Chloe probably was sleeping, Lindsay yawned again and got up, walking quietly to the bathroom. Once she was dressed she dialled a number and held the phone to her shoulder as she listened to it ring.

"Bonasera."

"Wow, your already ready for work-related calls. Knowing me I'd answer and say something like 'Hey!' or 'How are you?'."

"Don't sweat it, you're younger, you have a few years to practice."

"I guess so. So, you wanna grab some coffee?"

"I can't right now, I'm really sorry Linds, it must seem like I'm avoiding you."

"No, it's fine, what's up?"

"I'm going to court against my ex-boyfriend Frankie Mala. He was an abusive bastard, I near damn killed him. I know I won't be charged but I'm filing a restraining order against him."

"Oh god, I understand. Good luck!"

"I'll need it. He broke into my apartment and wouldn't leave, I ended up tied up in the bathroom, helpless. He put a knife to my throat and wouldn't let me go. He left the room because I had ordered some take out, I hid behind the door and ran for it. I knew there was a gun in my draw, a 38, just for protection...I knocked him out, and here we are."

"Is Mac going?"

"No, I told him I'd rather do this on my own."

"Srong woman."

"Yes, now I'll have to love you and leave you, I promise I'll make it up to you Linds. Do me a favor, go and see Mac. I think he's a bit depressed because I said I didn't need him."

"Sure no problem, love you Stell."

"You too, bye."

Lindsay put her shoes on and went to Chloe's room and knocked gently.

She laughed when she heard a groan from inside.

"I'm heading out, see you later."

She laughed again when she heard a mumbled 'Whatever.'

On the way to Mac's place she couldn't help but feel bad for him, she knew Stella and he were in love, and that something like that would make Mac feel like shit, it wasn't right really, but Lindsay wouldn't be prepared to confront Stella about it.

She pressed the buzzer and waited for him to answer it, tapping her foot on the asphalt as she went.

"Hello?" He said, his deep voice thick with sleep.

"Hey Mac, it's Lindsay. Can I come up?"

"Sure, hold on."

She heard the buzzing sound and the door opened, she went in and headed up the elevator to Mac's apartment. He waited in the doorway for her, looking very tired.

She followed him in, closing the door behind him and joined him on the couch, dropping her bag to the floor.

"I know she hurt you." She began, earning herself a sad look from Mac.

He shook his head, "I thought she might have wanted someone to go with her, but no...It's stupid really, I shouldn't be reacting this way."

Lindsay placed a hand on his shoulder, "No Mac, it's not stupid, you love her...I'd feel the same way if Don had done the same to me."

"Really?"

"Yes. Because that's what people in relationships do, lean on eachother."

"I know she's effected by it, I can tell...but she won't let me in, no matter what I say."

"The issues she had with Frankie are still there, give her time...She will open up eventually."

"You sure?"

"Yes, and you should be too. How many years have you and Stella known eachother?"

Mac laughed, "Yeah, I guess so."

Lindsay leant over and gave him a hug, smiling reassuringly. He smiled and leant back, looking more relaxed than he previously had.

"I got a letter in the mail today...I'm going to be a patrol officer to begin with, as soon as I leave the academy. And I don't have long until I've pretty much got the criminalist degree."

Lindsay smiled, "I forget everyone is older than me by a few years."

"Yeah. I forget you're nineteen, you seem much older. You and Hawkes have class together, and he's roughly a year older, so it's not too bad."

"Yeah. I'm going to miss you guys when you leave...it'll be weird not having you and Danny around, but I guess it won't be too bad because Don has never really been into science."

"You're right, he's following in his dad's footsteps, he always told me a high school science diploma was all he needed, he's always been focused on becoming a cop."

"I know, he talks about his dad sometimes, not a lot, but when he does it's good."

Mac nodded, "They're gonna send me my badge soon. My number is 8433."

"I don't think you'll be an officer for long."

"Why?"

"Because you're so much smarter than your average cop, they're gonna want to promote you straight away. I can see it."

"That would be good. What about Don?"

"Because of his status at the precinct, he will probably be a first grade in no time, like you will too."

"And Danny. His father was a cop too."

Lindsay nodded, feeling somewhat sad because soon she wouldn't see the people she had grown to love in such a short time as much as she was now. She knew they'd always be around though, between work and returning home. She still felt left out though, only nineteen wheras the others were in their early twenties.

Don would be a homicide detective by the time he turned twenty four, and Lindsay would still be in college, finalizing her degree. She wondered whether she would be an officer in the 12th precinct straight after graduation from the academy. Though she wouldn't be going into the academy until she turned twenty a year later.

"You'll do your father proud Mac, we all know you will." Mac grinned, glad his friends had such faith in him.

"And you will prove to your parents that there is life out of Montana. That Montana girls can go the distance."

Lindsay smiled, "Yeah, I never understood why my mom's friends got so snappy when they found out I was leaving for New York. They whisper things in my mom's ear. They'd tell her Montana girls don't belong in big cities, that I'd be home in no time."

"They're jealous, they know their kids will never be smart enough or rich enough to get there themselves, and they'll hate on the closest person that has brains or money."

"I never had a lot of money, I have brains though." She smiled, glad she'd managed to get into college to study what she had always dreamed of studying.

"I didn't come from money either, my father was a Marine, he wasn't around much so it was just me and my mom."

"Well I'd give anything for different parents. I'm surprised Brandon and I survived."

"Yeah, well parents can suck, everyone knows that."

"Wanna go down to Ray's, grab some coffee?" Mac asked, wanting to leave the small confined space of his apartment more than anything in that moment.

"Sure, Ray's sounds good." They both stood up and headed towards the door, once they were on the way to Ray's Mac's cell phone rang.

"Taylor."

"How are you?"

"Ok, was Mala convicted?"

"Good. I'll see you."

Lindsay could tell that Stella was on the other end of that call, and that Mac was still mad at her for not trusting him enough to let him support her.

He didn't say anything else until they reached the coffee shop, he opened the door for her and smiled, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. She knew that all she could do was comfort him, try to make him feel better.

Once they had ordered they're coffee and bagels they were sitting in the back on a comfortable brown leather couch, Lindsay was sipping her hot chocolate slowly whilst watching Mac pick at his bagel.

"Stella will open up to you some day, Mac, just give her time." Mac smiled and took a bite of his bagel, enjoying the warm center filling his mouth, after he had swallowed he smiled, chewing at the same time which made him look adorable.

"Don is a very lucky guy, you are everything Jess wasn't, and that's exactly what he needed." Lindsay smiled and rubbed her hands together.

"I guess I'm glad I know you guys, without you I'd be still in Montana, miserable."

"No prob...We love you Lindsay."

"I know, I love you too...you guys are the best friends I've had in a while."

"Good to know, and thank's for today, I can't think of anyone else who could cheer me up other than you."

"No problem Mac, that's what I'm here for." They grinned and carried on some mindless chatter, forgetting the troubles of the day and relaxing in the warm atmosphere of the coffee shop.

Lindsay yawned loudly as she entered the apartment, closing and locking the door behind her. She entered the living room and laughed at what she saw, Danny sprawled out across the couch, snoring loudly as the TV hummed in the background, it wasn't late, only around eight so he must have been beat to be sleeping now.

She shook her head and headed to her room, smiling with surprise when she found Don fast asleep in her bed, curled around her blankets like he belonged there. She dropped her stuff on the floor and knocked on Chloe's door.

"Come in." She entered and found Chloe on her bed listening to music from her laptop, she pressed pause when Lindsay sat down next to her.

Chloe smiled and laughed slightly, "The bone heads came for dinner and passed out straight after desert. I woke Flack up and told him to go to your room because you'd be home soon, nice surprise ah?" she grinned when Lindsay's cheeks turned red.

"I supose you could say that."

"Y'know I'm messin' with ya, better go and grab Danny a blanket, he'll be complainin' if he wakes up cold, god forbid." She said, rolling her eyes as she went to the closet and grabbed a blanket. Lindsay followed Chloe into the room and laughed when she kicked Danny's foot to wake him up.

"Get outta here! What time is it?" He said, rubbing his eyes as he sat up.

"Almost eight thirty, you stayin' the night or what?" Chloe asked, dropping the blanket into his lap.

"Yeah, I'm stayin'...where's Flack?"

"In Lindsay's bed, where else." Chloe laughed, Danny shrugged and lay back down, unrolling the blanket and bringing it up to his chin. Chloe went back to his room, wheras Lindsay stayed, Danny glanced up and grinned, glad she hadn't vacated back to be with Don.

"Quit standin' there Montana, there's more than enough room here." He said, sitting up and patting the couch.

"Thank's Danny." She said as she sat down, hogging half the blanket with her.

"Cheers Montana." He grinned, taking off his glasses and putting them on the coffee table next to the couch.

Danny turned on sports center and laughed when Lindsay glared at him, too much sport in one day would kill any girl, and she knew that Don and Danny loved the same things, so her torture would be never-ending.

"As much as I love hockey and baseball, I can't bear to watch anymore programmes about sport, I'll claw my eyes out, and I don't think Don would appreciate that."

Danny gave her a blank stare and pulled up the TV guide, scrolling through the main channels.

"How bout Diners, drive-ins and dives?" Danny asked, quite liking the idea of watching Guy Fieri travelling around the states eating the great foods of America.

Lindsay grinned, "Sounds good, though I'll be hungry afterwards."

Danny laughed, shaking his head, "I'm sure you and Chloe well stock the cupboards with food, so there's no worries."

Lindsay shrugged, knowing he was right. She yawned as the intro to the show played, grabbing Danny's attention.

"Go to bed Linds, your dead on your feet." He said when he saw her blinking rapidly.

"No...I'm okay." She said, yawning again, which earned her a glare from Danny, who turned the TV off and laid down, putting his feet in Lindsay's lap.

"Now, if you don't move you'll be listening to me snore all night, now go and give Donnie a cuddle for me." Danny laughed, seeing her blush.

Lindsay sighed, but gave in, lifting Danny's feet up as she slid out from under them, she leant down and gave Danny a kiss on the cheek, having no idea how much that one kiss had effected him.

"Night Danny."

"G'night Montana. Don't let the cockroaches bite."

"Ew." She said, throwing a pillow that had been lying around on the floor at his head.

"You're my best friend, you know that." She said, giving him a serious look.

"I know. Your mine too Montana."

She smiled and left, glad she had such great friends, and a great boyfriend to top it off. This was the life that she had dreamed about when she had been stuck in the hell hole she called home, Bozeman brought nightmares, New York brought happiness, she knew she would never move back there, no matter how many times her mom and dad tried to persuade her, that wouldn't be happening, she wasn't ever going back to the life she had before, and that was one thing she was damn sure about.

On entering her room, she smiled at Don's curled form under the blankets. She stripped down to her underwear, too tired to find some night clothes to wear. When she wrenched back the cover she found Don in his boxers and an NYPD t-shirt. She smiled when he cracked one eye open.

"C'mere." He mumbled, not noticing her state of undress, she agreeably moved forward, accepting his embrace, both eyes shot open and he yanked the cover down, finding her in a matching pale pink bra and panties set.

"Wow. You're beautiful Linds. Too tired to kiss you senseless though, that'll have to wait till tomorrow."

She laughed and ran a hand through his short dark hair and let it trail down his neck and come to rest on his waist, getting comfortable for the night.

"We have a problem." Lindsay tiredly opened her eyes and glanced up, meeting Don's equally tired eyes.

"And what would that be?"

He grabbed her hand and moved it lower, and sure enough, little Flack, or should she say big Flack was straining against the tight fabric of his boxers.

"I'm only wearing underwear..."

"No, you are my incredibly sexy girlfriend, who I've never see in underwear before, so expect that kind of reaction."

Lindsay let some things run through her mind for a few minutes before she said something else, without realising, she hadn't moved her hand, and as she did, he groaned when her hand brushed him.

"Think of the ugliest teacher or mentor you have naked. That should do it."

She laughed when a look of utter disgust covered Don's features, solving the problem hopefully, so they could get some sleep.

"In eighth grade, we had this teacher for computer class, she was about seventy years old and a cranky old bitch, my problem is gone."

Lindsay laughed and gently kissed his neck before nuzzling closer into his warm embrace.

"Linds, just so you know, this isn't over."

She looked up at him, utterly confused.

"What isn't over?"

He smirked, "Oh you know what isn't over." He said, touching her hand that currently rested on his stomach.

"Oh."

"Night baby."

"Night Donnie."

They smiled and kissed before closing their eyes, drifting off into a peaceful sleep.

_A/N Not much F/L in this but I've been writing this over the past few weeks, sorry I took so long. And another thing, this fic is rated T, but it may change as their relationship progresses, it won't be for quite a while though, I don't like to rush things :)_


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